Window to the Past
by MerlinStar
Summary: Merlin must face the past, which has finally caught up with the future. It involves loss and pain but the young warlock and his friends must face the oncoming battles. Both old enemies and friends reappear, and Merlin's life is changed in an amazing way.
1. Chapter 1

**One of my friends really enjoys writing fanfics, but unfortunately hasn't got access to , so I've agreed to post her stories here on my profile. She's called Hannah – like me! – and this is her first full length **_**Merlin**_** fic. It's set just after Series 1.**

**Any feedback is very much welcomed. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Neither of us own **_**Merlin**_**, but we totally love the show.**

Window to the Past

Prologue

The tranquil and enigmatic island had, for the first time in many years, been disturbed. Earth and brick sang with the aura of magic, recently refreshed by a couple of perpetrators. The world had held its breath as fire and lightening had been played with by a vengeful priestess of a religion as old as the universe and a grief-stricken, powerful warlock forced to hide his potential under the threat of death. The young man had emerged victorious, silently striking down his foe, wounded only by a blow to the chest. The rain fell as he and another man, who had appeared to be dead, tumbled back towards a small boat. The warlock had glanced at the shredded material covering the wound and muttered a few well chosen words that repaired the torn shirt, unnoticed by his companion. As they floated away the rain ceased to descend from the heavens and, once more, the isle was as silent as the still water surrounding it, as if no struggle for survival had occurred.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the lovely reviews – I've forwarded them to Hannah and she's really glad that you're enjoying her fic. I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story as it starts to unfold now. **

**Just a note (particularly to ****Rowana Renee') that there aren't any slash pairings in this story. Sorry if you're a slash shipper, but we view it just as friendship, and hope you still like the story.**

Chapter 1- Homecoming

Merlin stared at Camelot, the place he called home. Against all odds, he and Gaius had survived and Nimueh was dead. Not only that, but Arthur was alive and so was, hopefully, Merlin's mother.

Merlin felt a pang of worry and a solitary word formed in his mind- "_Mother."_

Someone gave a gentle cough behind him. Gaius was smiling kindly at him. Merlin's doubt had obviously shown itself on his face.

"She'll be fine, Merlin," Gaius said gently. "You said so yourself, the balance of the world has been restored. Didn't Nimueh tell you she was safe?" Merlin sighed.

"That's what worries me Gaius, I'm not sure if I can trust her word. She did try to destroy Arthur and Camelot." He sighed again before spurring his horse onwards towards the great city.

***

Merlin ran ahead from the stables, determined to see if his mother was truly alright.

He pounded down corridors, receiving many strange glances from passers-by, finally slamming the door open to Gaius' chambers... to find his mother pottering about and a startled Gwen seated at the table. His mother abruptly stopped and smiled warmly at her son.

Merlin ran at her, embracing her in a bear-like hug only remembering to late that his clothes were still slightly damp. Hunith returned the hug, although less fiercely.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I knew you would save me." Merlin closed his eyes in relief.

"Well you have Gaius to thank more than me." He would have said more but there was a sudden sharp burning in his chest, where Nimueh's fireball had hit him, but it passed as quickly as it had come.

There was a clearing of a throat from the doorway. Everyone looked at the door to find Gaius standing there, arms folded, gazing at the scene of mother and son reunited.

Gwen stood up hastily.

"Well I'd better get going. There's a feast celebrating Arthur's recovery tonight. Morgana will need my help." She left the room but not until she had given Merlin and Gaius a small smile. Silence followed, which was broken by the physician.

"How do you feel Hunith?"

Merlin's mother looked at Gaius.

"I feel great. Fantastic in fact." She looked at Merlin then back at Gaius.

"Well I suppose I should be going back to Ealdor."

Merlin looked at her in confusion.

"Why? Can't you stay? At least until we know for certain you're in the clear." Hunith looked up at him, a tiny amount of sadness mixed with her loving smile.

"Merlin, you have a destiny here in Camelot to protect Arthur. Mine is in Ealdor, caring for those who lost their loved ones in the fight against Kanan, especially Beth. She loved her husband so much, and she is having a hard time caring for the baby." Merlin nodded then said -

"You can have one of the horses. I won't have you trekking on foot back home."

After much packing, many furtive goodbyes and the saddling of a glossy, grey horse, Hunith was riding away, leaving Merlin with his emotions in turmoil, Gaius standing beside him. Merlin turned to the old man.

"What time is it?"

"Judging by the sun, nearly midday." Merlin's face turned into one of shock.

"Oh God, Arthur is going to kill me," he shouted, running away back towards the castle, leaving Gaius chuckling to himself.

***

Arthur was pacing his room, waiting. Merlin was in serious trouble. He was later than ever and to top it all what Merlin had said last night was nagging at him, something that wouldn't go away.

"_Why did Merlin say all of those things? You would have thought he was making a death sentence_," Arthur thought, his arm twitching in the sling.

There was a sudden bang, as the door was nearly thrown off its hinges. Merlin stood there panting, leaning on the wall for support.

"For heaven's sake Merlin, where the hell have you been?" the prince thundered. Merlin was still heaving.

"Mother... visited... left... just now," he gasped between heavy breaths. Arthur rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

"Well once you've done catching your breath, the room needs dusting." The young servant merely nodded, drew in one deep gulp of air and proceeded to his appointed task.

"Oh, Merlin..." the warlock looked around at Arthur. "What you said last night, what did you mean?" Merlin grinned.

"Nothing really. It was a spur of the moment thing," he replied. Arthur looked at him suspiciously and Merlin turned back to the table.

"Oh and Merlin..." Merlin spun around again, eyebrows raised. "Thanks for not dying on me."

Merlin chuckled and carried on dusting the table, finally feeling back at home.

Arthur turned away and was just about to pick up a piece of fruit when there was a small gasp and a loud clattering coming from Merlin's direction.

"Merlin, if that's a spider then you're the biggest gi..." Arthur once again faced his manservant but Merlin was in a sitting position, grasping onto a chair, his face starting to sweat.

"MERLIN!" Arthur cried running at the boy, grabbing him before he collapsed completely on the floor.

Merlin's vision was blurred. He could hear someone calling him and he called the person's name.

"Arthur!" Then everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks as always for all the great feedback! We both hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 2- "How did this happen?"

Arthur burst out of his chambers, carrying Merlin's limp form, his injured shoulder smarting. He started to run to Gaius' quarters when there was a shout from behind him.

"Arthur?"

Gwen and Morgana were sprinting down the hallway, looking from Arthur's panic-stricken face to the young warlock in his arms.

"What happened?" Morgana asked.

"I don't know, he just collapsed."

At Arthur's words, Gwen pressed her hand against Merlin's forehead, which she quickly withdrew.

"He's burning," she exclaimed. "I think he's going down with a fever. We need to get him to Gaius - fast." With that the three ran.

When they arrived at Gaius' chambers, Arthur shouldered the door open and ran inside, closely followed by the two women.

Gaius was at his table, pouring over some book. When he looked up he jumped out of his chair and ran over to Arthur, who was still holding Merlin.

"What's wrong with him?"

Arthur ran over to the bed and laid the boy gently onto the covers, before looking up at Gaius.

"He just collapsed. Gwen said he was coming down with a fever." He stepped away.

The physician looked over Merlin, whose body was now racked with sweat. Then he said...

"No, she couldn't have." He turned back to Arthur.

"Hold him."

Whilst Arthur held Merlin's torso upright, Gaius grabbed a small dagger, sliced the warlock's shirt and then ripped it off.

Morgana gasped, Gwen screamed and Arthur's already ashen face went paler still.

Half of Merlin's chest was covered with blistered skin, bright red and glistening from liquidated moisture. Arthur looked at the physician.

"How did this happen?"

Gaius didn't reply and began busying himself with many tonics. He looked over at the other three.

"Arthur, I need you to hold him still. Gwen, Morgana help him. This is going to hurt Merlin."

The three of them positioned themselves around Merlin's body , Gwen and Morgana took over Arthur's position- Morgana holding his shoulders as she lay him back on the bed; Gwen holding the boy's hand tentatively in her own. Arthur had his hands ready to hold Merlin's legs in case he started to buck.

Gaius then took the cloth and poured a treacly, honey coloured substance onto it. He then bent over the young warlock, praying to the gods that this would work and that Merlin wouldn't inadvertently reveal his magic.

The moment the cloth came into contact with Merlin's wound a nauseating sound of burning started up and Merlin let out a terrible scream. He then started to moan and toss about, sometimes muttering or shouting undecipherable words, whilst the physician tended him.

Gwen was crying silently, lightly squeezing Merlin's hand and whispering words of comfort to the thrashing boy, with no effect. Morgana and Arthur were trying to block out the sounds of the warlock's agonised cries.

Then, all of a sudden, just as Gaius was about to finish, Merlin stopped his moans and ramblings, shuddered violently and lay still. For a few seconds they all stared at him, willing him to show some sign of life but no sign was shown. His silence was worse than the thrashing and moaning.

Gaius' hand flew to Merlin's un-held wrist. He let out a sigh of relief. There was a pulse, weak though it was; it was a pulse all the same. He then bent towards Merlin's head and, so that the three young adults couldn't see, shifted the arm of his robes and lifted the lid of one of Merlin's eyes.

Golden light danced around his iris, just as it did when the young warlock performed magic, but this time the gold was tainted with red and Gaius knew that not even he could help Merlin now. He closed the boy's eye and looked at the others in turn before saying...

"He's been cursed." Gwen sobbed hysterically; Morgana went over to her, consoling her; and Arthur's face flickered with badly suppressed fright as he looked back at Gaius.

"Cursed?" he asked. The physician nodded.

"And he may have slipped into a coma." Before Arthur could reply there was a loud, rapid knock on the door.

"Open up! Open up in the name of the king!"

Gaius walked over to the door and as he opened it Uther stalked in, looking around at his son.

"Arthur, what on earth has been happening? A servant said that they heard someone screaming as if under torture!" Arthur looked bleakly at his father then stood aside to let Uther see Gwen being comforted by Morgana and Merlin lying deathly still on the bed, the burn still in plain view. The king's face fell into one of shock. He turned to the physician.

"Gaius, what the blazes happened?"

"There was an incident, sire," the physician stated.

"What incident?" Uther snapped tersely. Gaius didn't seem to want to reply.

"Speak up man," the king commanded. "If there's a story involved, just tell us."

Gaius took a deep breath, a story formulating in his mind.

"We were collecting some more of the Lobelia plant for Arthur if he showed any side-effects to the Questing Beast's venom," he explained. Everybody was listening. Gwen had even stopped crying.

"Whilst we were doing this, something disturbed the horses and Merlin went to go and check what was wrong. Then the next thing I know, he was flying backwards into the clearing and..." Hear he paused, looking directly at Uther..".. _she _was standing there." Uther's eyes widened and he swallowed.

"You're sure it was her?"

"Positive, sire. She then used this spell- it threw me against a tree. It didn't seem that she was too happy with Arthur's recovery. I'm sure that she was going to kill me. Then she suddenly screamed and exploded. And there was Merlin, standing there with the knife we had been using. I'm afraid to say that I didn't see his injury."

Shocked silence followed after he had finished. Arthur was looking incredulously at Gaius.

"Merlin killed a sorceress? He can't have. I practise with him almost every day and he can barely hold a sword."

"Didn't he fight those bandits in Ealdor? If he did, he must have killed at least one of them, shouldn't he?" Gaius asked monotonously. Uther didn't seem to be listening.

"But this is a cause for celebration." They all looked at him, startled.

"The sorceress is dead; we can celebrate this as well as Arthur's recovery."

Morgana's face turned into one of confusion.

"But who is this sorceress? You've killed many throughout the years, so what makes this one so significant?" Uther looked at Gaius.

"This sorceress was called Nimueh. She has sought the destruction of Camelot for the last twenty years. She is the one who created the Afanc and the Black Knight."

Arthur turned to his father.

"She was the woman from the cave, wasn't she? The one who poisoned... Merlin". Uther nodded.

Gwen started to cry again, silently, wondering why. Why had this sorceress wanted to destroy Camelot? Why had she wanted to hurt Merlin? Little did she know that those questions would soon be answered.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry about the delayed update! I've been really busy the past few days. (MerlinStar)

A note from Hannah:

Thank you so much for reading and reviewing, I hope you are enjoying wttp so far, though there is still quite a way to go. Hope you keep reading. :)

Chapter 3- Visitor in the Night.

Uther prepared for bed, thinking that the feast could have been worse. Gaius had refused to come. He was too busy caring for Arthur's manservant. Arthur himself had barely touched his food. He had smiled when talking to people but when he wasn't he had started to frown. He was clearly worried for the boy. Morgana and her maid had been just the same.

The king then went to blow the candles out. As he blew out the last one and turned away, the candle sputtered into life again. Uther turned round to look at it in shock.

"Hello Uther."

Uther span around on the spot. Right by the door was a young woman. At first, he thought it was Nimueh, her long dark hair hanging down her back. But then he noticed that her eyes were a stonier colour and she was wearing a horribly familiar pale dress.

"You! But you're dead!"

The woman smiled at him but it wasn't with a cold glare.

"I thought you wouldn't remember me Uther; but then again..." she trailed off before continuing. "And it depends really. For all you know I may be a ghost."

Uther glared at her. She didn't shy away.

"What are you doing here? You do realise that I could have you killed, sorceress," he spat. The woman frowned slightly.

"Come now Uther, surely you could call me by my name? As for why I'm here, I just wanted to talk." She then walked over to the chair.

"May I?"

Uther nodded curtly and she sat, smiling sadly at him.

"Uther, I don't want to kill you. You know I love you as a brother." Uther's expression was now enraged.

"That didn't stop you from letting her die. You could have saved her," he whispered, furiously. The woman was white in the face.

"I tried. I warned Nimueh that she might die. I foresaw a difficulty. She didn't listen and by the time I saw your retribution, it was too late. She was dead and your son lived."

"She was my wife," Uther stormed. "She was the only person I truly cared about and you and Nimueh let her die."

"You saw me try to save her, with your own eyes. Do you think I would willingly let her die because of some idiocy me or Nimueh performed?" cried the woman. "You were the one who asked for an heir, were you not?" She was clearly distraught, but took a deep breath.

"What's he like? Arthur, that is."

Uther's rage turned to sadness.

"Why do you ask?"

"I haven't even gotten to know him. I've missed all of his life, although there are harder things in the world."

The king thought carefully before answering.

"He's practically the spitting image of his mother- hair, eyes, everything. He also has some of her compassion."

"Although, I bet he inherited your temper," the woman said, laughing softly. "I hear Nimueh was killed by Arthur's manservant, what was his name, Merlin, am I correct? Only now the boy is in some sort of shock." Uther just nodded and grabbed a piece of fruit from a bowl.

"So what's this Merlin like then? My sources say he's saved Arthur's life several times." Uther chewed slowly on the fruit.

"I don't know, although he's spent a few times in the stocks."

The woman snorted behind her hand.

"Poor boy, if Arthur is anything like you that means that this Merlin has had to save his neck _more_ than a few times." She allowed herself another titter.

"Right, I'll take my leave now, shall I?" She curtseyed to Uther, who laughed for the first time.

"You haven't changed have you?"

The woman beamed at him but then her face fell.

"Æbald is coming, Uther."

The king looked at her in shock. Her stone-blue eyes had just turned shimmering gold.

"He is coming home and I pray you will not treat him as you have treated the rest of my kind."

Uther blinked and she was gone. The candles had once more been snuffed out. He thumbed cautiously with the bed sheets, hoping when he woke that this had just been a dream.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for putting up the wait before this update! I'm not really sure how often I'll be posting new chapters of Hannah's, but it should be fairly regularly. We both hope you enjoy this chapter, which will reveal more of Merlin's past.**

Chapter 4- Vision

Deep beneath the city, whilst its inhabitants slept, someone was wide awake, his eyes glistening in the dark, the clinking of the chain that imprisoned him in the damp caves echoing loudly.

It was time. With all his might and magic, the Great Dragon pulled on the chain which finally gave way.

The dragon spread his wings, making his way to freedom and the final part of his destiny.

Gwen hadn't left Merlin's side all night. After the celebratory feast, she had immediately left for Gaius' quarters. He had let her in and led her to Merlin's room, where the boy had been moved. Gaius had left her, graciously giving her the privacy she needed with Merlin, and she had sat by the bed, staring at him and holding his limp hand, crying all the while.

If his chest had not kept on rising ever so slightly, she may have thought he was dead. Someone had put another one of his shirts on him, hiding the disfiguring burn mark that had caused so much pain. She stayed there all day as well, only eating and drinking what Gaius brought her.

Finally, at the crack of dawn the next day, Gwen tried talking, hoping that he might be able to hear her.

"You missed the feast. Arthur had to take care of himself. I've never seen him so quiet, it..." She broke off, her eyes spilling over with tears again. "Merlin, you've got to come back. It's not the same without you. They all need you, Camelot needs you... I need you. I don't know what to do anymore. You've always been there for me. I've lost so many; I don't think I'd be able to bear losing you too."

One of her tears slid onto Merlin's hands and to Gwen's astonishment, it stirred.

"Merlin?"

A crashing sound ripped through the air and Gwen was thrown backwards, staring at the opposite wall. But half of the wall wasn't there anymore.

She was facing a monstrously enormous dragon, covered in glittering golden scales. The emotion on its face was unreadable but with one mighty claw it reached out towards...

"MERLIN!" Gwen cried. However she knew she could do nothing. The dragon had hold of the young warlock and was flying swiftly away.

Gwen felt ill. She felt like choking. From behind her there was a loud bang but before she knew it, her world went dark.

"What do you mean we can't go after Merlin? He was taken by that dragon for heaven's sake!"

Arthur was standing in the almost deserted Great Hall. Gaius was lurking by the window, Morgana stood with a hysterical Gwen by the door.

"Regrettable though it is, Arthur, we cannot desert our borders with a wild dragon on the loose, for the sake of a half-dead manservant," Uther replied sternly. Arthur was incensed.

"He's the one who killed the sorceress and he's saved my life goodness knows how many times, and you'd repay him by letting him die!"

Morgana stepped forward.

"I agree with Arthur. Please Uther, we cannot just abandon him," she said imploringly.

Uther sat on his throne, brooding for a few minutes. He then looked at Gaius.

"Do you know where the beast may have gone, Gaius?" Gaius sucked in a huge breath.

"If you ask me sire, the most likely place the dragon may have gone is the Hollow Nest." Uther put his head in his hands.

"Not that death-trap."

Arthur looked at Morgana and Gwen, their confused looks identical to his own. He then turned from his father to Gaius.

"What's the Hollow Nest?"

Uther gazed pointedly at the physician.

"It's a dragon nesting ground Arthur," Gaius explained. "Every dragon was born there and every dragon went there to die. By dragon-lore they could only go there when laying eggs or dying, even if they were in mortal peril." Arthur was stunned.

"Arthur..."

The prince looked at his father hopefully. Uther continued.

.".. I am willing to send you and a couple of men to the Nest and report back if the beast is there. If it is, I will send more of the Knights to help you detain it."

The three young adults sighed with relief, before running out of the hall. Unnoticed, Gaius was looking grim.

The dragon soared many miles, finally reaching its destination, a large mountain looming in the distance.

Through a gaping hole in the mountain was a dark and damp cave, serving equal class as to where he had been kept for so long. Many skeletons lay about; all of them dirty, yet gleaming in the sunlight.

The boy in his claws was cold and still unmoving. A flat rocky stand stood near the side of the cave, which he laid his human cargo upon before curling around him like a snake.

He had been careless about the warlock's attire and now Merlin's top lay in ruins. But that made the task much easier. The boy's injury was visible, the physical part of Nimueh's curse.

The dragon bent his nose to hover above the young warlock, coming into contact with his chest.

Merlin let out a deep gasp and his breathing became slow and heavy. His eyes snapped open, dancing with intense golden light. He looked at the dragon, sorrow mingling with his gaze.

"I'm... so... sorry," the boy whispered before his eyes closed once again.

The dragon looked at the warlock intently.

"Dream, Merlin. Dream of the past."

With that he laid his head down and entered a deep slumber, dreaming the same dreams as the warlock.

Pain. Agonising pain. Merlin was surrounded by fire with no way out. Red flames lashed away at him, never ending. There was no magic here, so he was forced to endure the anguish.

Words were whispered to him, echoing around him loudly. He only understood a few, too occupied shouting out against the fury attacking him. But those he did understand fixed in his brain. Arthur, Morgana, Gaius, Gwen. His mind soon filled with thoughts of their worry. Gwen needed him. She was screaming. He had to help her.

But now the flames were cooling to quickly, his mind iced over. He couldn't feel anymore. Then a wave of relief ran through him, chasing the fire away and warming the cold.

His eyes flickered open. Above him was a blur of gold filling his vision. Although he could not see the finer details of the blur he knew who it was. He suddenly felt sorrow and pity. The dragon had saved him, after all Merlin had said and done. With his last bit of strength, Merlin tried to speak, to convey something to the creature. But his ears suddenly filled with a tremendous buzzing and his eyes closed.

Images filled his head, flashing from one to the next so fast that he could only see strands of colour. He was beginning to feel dizzy, the blurs kept on slowing down but only gradually. After what seemed an eternity, the pictures were going along at a humanly normal pace.

There were moments of darkness then light appeared through small cracks. Merlin was breaking out, and above him a small child with long raven hair, a pale, thin face and granite blue eyes smiled excitedly before picking him up, hugging him close. Merlin had never felt so safe or loved.

Next he was standing in a large sunlit room, no longer seeing things through the dragon's gaze. Three children sat around the vicinity and he walked up to the eldest.

The girl was sitting on a small stool and something stirred in his memory. She had cropped, shoulder length hair which was dark brown and intricately braided; and astonishingly electric blue eyes. Merlin realised who this was and stepped backwards. This was Nimueh. At that moment in time, the younger Nimueh was smiling indulgently at the two other children, who were both blonde with blue eyes, both different from each other. The girl sat slightly taller.

A loud giggle came from another room and the small raven haired girl came in, running up to Nimueh and patting her arm. A small dragon glided beside her.

"Nim, could you help me come and get him, please. He's on top of the cupboard again." Her voice was a high, sweet soprano that, to Merlin, made her even more endearing.

Nimueh looked at the girl, confused. The boy ran from playing with the blonde girl to the other two.

"I'll help you Lara."

Nimueh let out a small tinkling laugh.

"Æbald, you're too small, you wouldn't be able to reach the top and you can't use magic... Actually Lara, why can't you just use magic to get him?" Lara pouted.

"Gaius said not to use magic for games. He says we should only use it for the things that matter."

Merlin felt shocked but at the same time he mentally laughed.

These people had known Gaius, and he told them exactly what he always told Merlin- "don't use your gifts for trivial things" or "your gift is not a toy."

Then the little blonde girl looked at the dark one.

"Lara, you'd listen to Gaius, even if he said the world was at an end."

Nimueh stood up, causing the three smaller ones to fall silent.

"Sis, that dragon of yours looks half-starved. Go and get it some food and I'll sort out your brother." The little girl beamed and skipped from the room.

Merlin was now thinking. Nimueh had had a family? And why did they all seem so familiar?

He then found himself standing outside in the night, a lit torch behind him. Merlin looked up and stared in bewilderment.

There was Camelot. The warlock knew it was a memory but he couldn't help feeling at home.

Laughing reached his ears and he spun around. Four figures in cloaks were walking towards the castle.

His heart gave a frightful leap. There was the fully grown Nimueh, braided hair and startling eyes, wearing a blue cloak and a flowing red dress.

The men besides her were taller. One had blonde hair, his blue eyes pale as water. The one on her other side with his dark hair and blue eyes, looked incredibly more muscular than the other man, a lackadaisical on his face. One wore black, the other deep green. Now that it caught Merlin's attention, both men were kitted out as if they were about to join a war.

On the blonde man's other side was an elegant woman with long, wavy black hair and another set of blue eyes. Merlin knew this must be Lara. Underneath a dusty brown cloak, she wore a long, flaring, white dress, decorated at the hem with silver leaves. She looked undeniably beautiful.

Merlin followed them, catching snippets of their conversation. He noticed that Lara kept looking sorrowfully over her shoulder, and he wasn't the only one.

"Oh for God's sake, Lara," the blond male exclaimed. "You don't need to worry about that dragon of yours. He's not exactly powerless, and you can't really bring him to the feast."

Lara sighed.

"I know Æbald. It's just odd being away from him. He's part of me."

Nimueh glared at the blonde, Æbald.

"What? You know I don't particularly appreciate it when my sister wallows sentimentally about an all powerful predator."

"_Wallows_?" Nimueh said, her expression becoming one of annoyance. "You are so ignorant Æbald. The bond between Lara and her dragon is very powerful. You would do well to respect it. You also may want to remember that she doesn't like hurting his feelings."

"I know that Nim. Mind you, don't forget that scolding she gave him last week because he was about to eat that... what was it?" Æbald asked. Lara smiled at him.

"It was a merlin." Her voice was mature and serene, yet not much deeper than the trill she had had as a child.

The dark male rolled his eyes.

"When you've all stopped discussing birds, you'll notice we're there."

Merlin looked up. They had reached a pair of large wooden doors which, Merlin realised, led into the great hall. After quickly donning their cloaks, the four stepped inside, closely followed by the young warlock.

As he looked ahead, Merlin saw a king sitting at the back of the hall. It was Uther, a much younger Uther at that, and next to him was...

He had to blink a couple of times and then stared at the person in disbelief. The woman had long blond hair, which shimmered like corn silk at sunset, and her' eyes were perfect sapphires set into the pretty, pale face. This had to be Igraine. Arthur's mother. The likeness was uncanny. The prince had inherited her hair and eyes which were, as hers, full of a bright keenness.

Igraine smiled warmly at the four arrivals and confusedly so did Uther.

The four separated and moved to their respective places. Nimueh and the tall, dark haired man sat on Uther's other side, whilst Lara and Æbald sat by a middle-aged man with ruffled mahogany brown hair, mixed with the odd strand of grey.

Merlin felt another swirl of shock. This man was Gaius. A young version of Gaius.

Uther suddenly stood up.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are here tonight to celebrate the upcoming marriage between me and the Lady Igraine. Now, I would like to introduce you to one of Camelot's finest singers, the Lady Lara."

Everybody clapped as Lara rose and went to stand in the middle of the hall; but beforehand she winked at Gaius, who smiled back. Æbald rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

Lara started to sing a lovely tune. Merlin felt enraptured by the woman who sang so sweetly. To him the song sounded oddly familiar. It carried many different emotions and Merlin found that at times he heart was filled with sadness and at other times he was inexplicably happy..

When she had finished, there was thunderous applause. She curtseyed to each table in turn and returned to her seat.


	6. Chapter 6

**As always, thanks for the reviews, and here comes more dragonish stuff!**

Chapter 5- The Hollow Nest 

Arthur saddled the horse. Looking around he saw the three knights who were accompanying him do the same. Two of them were helmeted and the other was the newest recruit of the knights of Camelot.

The prince looked up at the citadel, heaving a sigh. Gwen and Morgana had staged many arguments, mainly Morgana, being the more outspoken of the two. Arthur had told them that it was too dangerous and his father and Gaius had backed him up. They had finally given in and had agreed to stay behind, though Morgana hadn't been able to help herself from glaring at them all for the last few hours.

"Arthur."

He turned around to find the physician standing there, horse saddled with packs and supplies.

"Gaius what-" However Gaius interrupted.

"I know that Merlin is still alive," he said, almost defiantly. "He will need my care. There's also the problem that you honestly don't know where the Nest is, so I'm here to guide you."

Arthur looked at the physician for a few moments then nodded. He then proceeded to ask him about something that had been troubling him.

"Gaius, what... what did my father mean, about the Hollow Nest, when he called it a 'death trap'? " Gaius' expression became sombre.

"Centuries ago, the dragons placed enchantments on the mountain to keep intruders away, unless they wanted to die a painful death," he explained. "Your father had forbidden anyone to go near that place, as about twenty years ago he sent a large envoy to see if there were any dragons nesting there. They never returned, so he picked off the dragons, one by one, before they could go and lay their eggs. Therefore only one male dragon remained, which Uther kept as an example. With the extermination of the entire race, save that one dragon, the spells broke, but people still dare not go near it, for some say the mountain is haunted by the spirits of the former dragon keepers."

"And what is the dragon keeper? " Arthur asked, but Gaius ignored him, climbing onto his horse. Arthur followed suit as did the three other knights.

Two days later, the small company was trekking through a dense forest. There was no noise, apart from the soft rustling of leaves in the wind and the crackling of fallen twigs, dry bracken and mossy undergrowth. The horses were becoming restless towards the surroundings. The darkness cloaking them was eerie; the trees: deep, gloomy shades of green and brown - spectators of the slow march - blocked the sunlight almost completely, the stray beam of light flashing off rocks strewn on the floor, giving them a dappled effect. Exposed views of the sky showed a pinkish blue, telling them that the sun was rising.

By this time, Arthur was feeling slightly testy. No matter how many questions he had thrown at Gaius about the dragons or the dragon keepers he had mentioned, the physician had refused to answer, always trying to direct the conversation away from those particular topics. Arthur noticed that whenever this happened an emotion flickered across the old man's face. Was it pain? Or was it loss?

There was a sudden thud as one of the helmeted knight's horse's front legs gave way, sinking to the ground and whinnying in agony, as the knight tumbled off, his helmet rolling away.

"GUINEVERE!"

Gwen was sitting on the forest floor, a look of mild frustration crossing her face. Arthur was livid.

"I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN CAMELOT! IT'S TOO DANGEROUS! YOU COULD GET YOURSELF KILLED!" he bellowed, disturbing a nearby flock of birds out of their tree.

He then noticed as the other knight made to remove their helmets.

"Really, Arthur, since when have we ever really listened to you? " Morgana exclaimed. "And there's no need to shout!"

"Morgana!" Arthur shook his head wildly. The king's ward looked at him stubbornly.

"I'm not going back, and I don't think Gwen will either. We want to help Merlin, he's our friend. I thought you were too Arthur, unless you're just doing as your father tells you and you're only going to kill that dragon, never mind what happens to Merlin."

That put a wrench in Arthur's gut. He had considered Merlin his friend ever since the idiot had taken the poison that the sorceress, Nimueh, had tried to slip him, Arthur. It had made him see how loyal Merlin was and that feeling of loyalty had intensified over the months. Now, to call Merlin something less than a friend, though he was a servant, seemed impossible to Arthur as he realised that their relationship ran deeper than servant and master. He also remembered having disliked the boy when they had first met although, he admitted to himself, he had been intrigued by his defiance and cheek.

Because of these thoughts, Arthur did not continue the argument; however it seemed that Gaius and the other knight were reluctant to give up that easily. Arthur held up his hand before they could protest.

"They're both really good fighters, Gaius. I saw them in Ealdor, and Morgana used to practise with me when we were younger. We can't afford to send them back; they may be attacked by bandits." He turned back to the two women. "Just out of interest, what did you do to the knights that were _meant_ to be coming along? " Both females smiled at him mischievously.

"Let's just say, they're going to wake up in broom cupboard, a bit tipsy from the draught we slipped them," Morgana said, blushing slightly. Arthur couldn't help laughing.

Gwen walked over to her horse, inspecting its leg.

"He'll be alright; he just stood in a pothole. I don't think there's anything broken or sprained." She tugged on the reins gently and the dusty grey form rose, without much difficulty. Once Gwen had resumed her seat, they moved through the forest once more, the silence continuing to hang about them. Gaius and the knight still didn't seem to be too happy about the girls accompanying them.

Not so long after, the trees surrounding them began to thin, daylight peeping through. When they had cleared the dark expanse of forest altogether, they found themselves facing a large mountain, black against the sun and sky, the sheer size of it beyond possible measure and reason. The mountain gave off the sense of intense foreboding, the jagged edges making it look even more sinister than most would have deemed necessary. Morgana couldn't help shivering.

"You'd think that dragon's would want their children to be born in hell, or something like that." It was the knight who had spoken and they all looked at him.

"Something like that," Arthur agreed quietly, before turning to Gaius. "How much longer until we get there? " The old man frowned for a second.

"A few hours perhaps, then we would have to climb up the mountain, which would definitely take us all day." At this, Gwen turned her head towards Gaius.

"Are you saying that the cave is at the top? " The physician grimaced.

"There are some stairs. When dragons allowed humans past their enchantments, the humans would have to walk."

With that, Gaius spurred his horse on, heading towards the monstrosity.

The silent minutes oozed slowly by. Nobody spoke, whilst their breath came out in huge torrents of steam in the morning sun. The undergrowth became scarce, until the ground beneath them finally turned into a scorched, barren wasteland, rocky outcrops forming everywhere, creating many narrow paths.

After what seemed years later, the group arrived at the dark base of the mountain. Before them was a colossal number of stairs, spiralling up and away from them. Arthur sucked in his breath, swallowing copious amounts of dust. Coughing slightly, he broke the silence that had hung over the group.

"Those steps are too steep for the horses. We'll have to carry the supplies."

It then took a while to tie the horses so they could not wonder off, and to share out the supplies. Morgana found a clump of dried plant, to which they all deemed strong enough and knotted the horses' reins to it; and after much debate, they were all carrying supplies. Arthur and the knight, whose name turned out to be Bedivere, were to look after the food and wood for a fire if needed, Morgana took the water and the blankets, Gwen helped Gaius carry his medical supplies and journals.

Morgana stood next to Arthur, bracingly, but then look confusedly at the prince when he sniggered.

"Care to share the joke? "

Arthur, who stood staring at the Hollow Nest, smiled.

"Remember that tree, by the lake; you dared me to climb when we were seven; and when I couldn't get down you came up after me and got stuck yourself."

Morgana also smiled at the memory.

"Yes. It took half of the knights to get us down. Uther was livid. I swear, for a moment he looked like he was going to have our heads chopped off."

"He might this time, once he finds out you've come with us and I didn't send you back immediately," he said.

"Arthur." He looked at her, as he felt her take his hand in her own. "Thank you..." she continued. .".. for letting us come with you."

"OI!"

Both of them looked over at the staircase, where the others had started to climb. It was Bedivere who had called.

"If you two don't hurry up, we'll never get anywhere before nightfall!"

The king's ward quickly let go of Arthur's hand and walked over to the waiting trio, cheeks flaming. Arthur stood there, mildly startled, before following suit, but without blushing.

The hours that followed were increasingly dangerous. The group kept falling victim of the treacherous stairs, stumbling over protruding rocks; and at one point Bedivere caused a minor landslide when he slipped off the stairs, his feet colliding with a loose boulder. He would have surely fallen to his death if Arthur had not grabbed him in the nick of time, hauling him back onto the stairway. Meanwhile the glaring sun was beating down on their backs. Within hours, sweat was dripping in small streams from their faces, their clothing dampened. As the night drew in, the humid temperature dropped rapidly, causing them all to shiver in their clothes.

Morgana was in the lead, steadily pacing up the slope. She suddenly found that when she lifted her foot towards where she thought the next step would be- they were all but blind in the darkness- her foot met thin air and thudded back to earth. Peering around hard, she saw that they had reached a small outlet in the side of the mountain.

"Morgana, why have you stopped? " Arthur's voice came from behind her and she turned around quickly.

"There's an area here where we could rest. It definitely looks big enough." Everyone else filed onto the levelled out space, panting. Worst of all was Gaius, who was wheezing gently.

Arthur looked around and spotted the beginning of another staircase. He turned to face the others.

"You lot stay here and get a camp set up. I'm going to look ahead. On my own." He pronounced those last few words with finality, as Bedivere had risen to follow him. "It can't be that far from the top, so I may as well see if the dragon and Merlin are there." Without waiting for a reply, he trudged away and up the next flight of weathered stairs.

This journey took an incredibly short amount of time. It seemed only minutes later that Arthur stood outside the entrance to what appeared to be a huge cave, his breath coming out in torrents of white mist in the freezing night. Something was glowing inside.

Silently drawing his sword, Arthur stepped warily past the opening. What he saw made him draw in breath through his gritted teeth, creating the effect of a hissing cat. A large number of dragon skeletons lay about, all different sizes, some small and some over half the size of the cave, giving off a mysterious glow in the bleak moonlight which shone through the cave entrance. However they were not what was causing the light.

At the side of the cave, on a plinth of stone, was a mighty golden beast, curled up and asleep like a dog. As he approached, Arthur heard deep sighs of breath that didn't come from the dragon.

By the tip of the dragon's tail, the prince saw the familiar yet pale face of Merlin. He rushed forward, though carefully as to not awaken the enormous sleeper. Stepping cautiously over its tail, he placed his sword on the floor and knelt beside the boy, whom he gently shook. Merlin didn't respond. Arthur then felt his brow and was horrified at how cold Merlin was. Looking down at the servant's chest, he recoiled in shock.

The shirt had been ripped apart, shreds of cloth clinging together only by a few fibres. What worried Arthur the most was the golden mark spreading across Merlin's torso. There was no hint of the previous burn.

The dragon gave a sudden growl. Arthur jumped back, making to grab his sword. He realised that he had to leave. Regretfully he couldn't take the servant with him as it would be impossible to carry Merlin down the stairs and the others had to know that the dragon was here and Merlin was alive, just. As a sort of parting comfort to his unfortunate friend, Arthur pulled off his cloak, lying it over Merlin's body.

The trek back to the outlet was short albeit rather steep and quite slippery. Someone had built a fire but only two people sat around it: Morgana and Bedivere. As they heard him approach, the pair looked up at him, Morgana's eyes filled with hope.

"The dragon is in the cave with Merlin. They're both asleep but Merlin was freezing cold. I don't think that dragon cares for his clothes, they were in ruins. Merlin may not last another night like that if we don't get up there tomorrow."

Morgana closed her eyes in relief as Arthur turned to Bedivere.

"I need you to go back to Camelot and alert my father. Tell him we'll remain here in case the beast moves somewhere else." Bedivere nodded and Arthur clapped him on the back. "Good man." Without hesitation, the knight stood and made towards the stairs that led back down the side of the mountain.

Arthur, who had been watching him leave, looked at the fire again to see that Gwen had joined Morgana.

"Gaius is asleep, getting up here really tired him out," Gwen said. Arthur sat down next to the king's ward, briefly glancing over at the physician, sleeping against the side of the mountain. Gwen then gave him a questioning look. "Is Merlin alright? " Arthur stared at the flames.

"I don't know. He's alive, though he's freezing and the mark that that sorceress gave him... well it's... disappeared."

"What? " Morgana asked, her tone confused and disbelieving at the same time. Arthur didn't move his gaze from the golden flames.

"It's not there anymore, there's some sort of golden light on his chest."

"Is it magic? " Gwen whispered.

"I don't know, we'd have to ask Gaius." Arthur sighed. "I really think we should get some sleep. We need to get to that cave and keep an eye on that dragon until my father arrives."

With those words, Gwen handed them all a few blankets each. Arthur rolled on his side then almost immediately fell asleep, his dreams dark and shapeless.


	7. Chapter 7

**Quite a nice long chapter today, and maybe one of my favourites. Just please remember that I'm only posting for Hannah who I reckon is a much better author than me. I could never write something like this! Hope you enjoy, anyway, and we're both really grateful to those who have read and reviewed so far.**

Chapter 6- The Last of the Dragons

The sun rose bleakly over the countryside, hitting the mountain, and Arthur full in the face. The prince blinked slowly at the almost blinding light. He sat up groggily, turning to see that the fire had smouldered into ashes and the other three were lying around him at various places on the outlet, still sleeping.

He clambered to his feet and paced over to Morgana and shook her lightly. She stirred, eyes fluttering against the rays of the dawning day.

"Arthur, what time is it? " she yawned quietly.

"Just after dawn. We need to wake the others and get to the cave."

Whilst Morgana rose and prepared a light breakfast, Arthur woke Gwen and Gaius, both wincing at the heavy sunlight. They then set about eating some bread and fruit and drinking a little wine. Gaius turned to Arthur.

"Is Merlin still alive? Is he alright? "

Arthur swallowed his last piece of bread, nodding as he did so.

"It was odd though. He and the dragon were both asleep and Merlin has this mark on his chest. Nimueh's injury wasn't there."

As he said this, Gaius had been taking a sip of wine, and then at Arthur's words he began to cough and splutter. In a minor panic, Gwen thumped his back. The physician's expression as he looked at Arthur was one of horror.

"What? !"

"I said the burn wasn't there," Arthur replied, slightly worried at Gaius' outburst.

"No not that part," Gaius said edgily. "What colour was the light? Was it gold? "

"Yes but what has the colour got to do with it? " Arthur replied. "For all we know, the dragon could have enchanted Merlin and made his condition even worse."

However, Gaius merely looked dumbfounded, his face becoming mildly pale. He looked at the three in turn.

"Dragons are powerful creatures of magic. What has happened to Merlin is just one of their many tricks. It's called _Draconis Coniectura_. A dragon can cause a person to fall into a deep slumber and dream of things that could have happened centuries ago. To force a person to have 'dragon dreams' they had to make contact with said person's skin, and it always left a mark, depending on the colour of dragon. There are many side-effects; the most common being your eyes turning the same colour as the mark for a couple of weeks."

Gwen felt confused.

"But why would the dragon go to all this trouble, just to show Merlin a few memories? "

"The dragon has been trapped underneath Camelot since the Great Purge of magic. The only reason I can think of is if something was going to happen and the dragon had to break free and show someone something, and that he just chose Merlin by chance, but the question is what would be so important? " This was partly untrue. Gaius had also come up with the assumption that because Merlin was to help Arthur bring magic back to Camelot, the Great Dragon may have wanted to show the warlock what had happened in the years before the near eradication of magic. As the old man pondered this thought more, he realised something. _She _had known Igraine and had been involved throughout the entire business concerning Arthur's birth and had been practically inseparable from the dragon, telling him everything through the mental bond that they had shared. What if the dragon wanted to pass this information onto the young warlock? At this Gaius turned even whiter than before and ran over to his possessions.

"Wait, Gaius. What's wrong? " Morgana asked, frowning heavily. But Gaius didn't answer. Instead, he rushed over to the stairs, beginning to ascend the remaining stairway that led to the inside of the Hollow Nest.

Arthur looked at the two women, obviously startled, before grabbing his own bag and following the physician, Morgana and Gwen doing the same.

Like the journey Arthur had made last night, it didn't take long for them to reach the top of the stairs and the gaping hole in the side of the mountain. It was considerably lighter in the cave, Arthur thought, than his previous trip. They could actually see the mounds of the dragon bones, the sun throwing them into sharp relief. Gwen gasped in horror.

"How many are there? " she whispered to Gaius, her eyes filling with sadness at the scene surrounding them. He patted her soothingly on the shoulder.

"Hundreds." The old man turned to Arthur. "Do you remember where they are? " The prince nodded slowly, still gazing at the remains of the mighty beasts, snapping out of his trance-like state rather slowly.

They trundled around the labyrinth of dragon skeletons, Arthur in the lead. He couldn't see the golden light that had emitted from Merlin's captor; the sun was filling the cave with its glow. Finally, when he felt like giving up, he saw a shimmering affect on the cavernous wall, not unlike the rippling light of reflected water.

Arthur immediately turned to his right and around a pile of bones, was the body of the Great Dragon, sending a wave of trepidation through Arthur's being. It continued to sleep, its massive bulk still curving around Merlin's body.

Gaius practically jogged over to the young warlock, clambering over the beast's tail. He felt Merlin's brow, which froze his hand, and inspected the gold mark that had indeed replaced Nimueh's curse whilst checking the boy's pulse, which beat against Merlin's wrist almost sluggishly. His breathing was heavy and prolonged.

"Merlin, can you hear me? " Gaius enquired, but to no effect. Merlin was still unresponsive. The physician looked up at Arthur, who had joined him on Merlin's other side.

"Help me move him." The prince picked Merlin off the floor, the boy's head lolling over his arm, and then carried him over to Gwen and Morgana, who enfolded the boy in many blankets. Morgana turned to Gaius, whilst Gwen rested Merlin's head on her lap.

"What do we do now? "

"We wait," Gaius replied. "I cannot wake Merlin and there is no possibility of getting down those stairs. We will have to wait until he wakes, and that includes before Uther kills the dragon." A slight edge crept into his voice. "Otherwise Merlin would die." Arthur gazed at Gaius, accessing the old man's expression.

"You don't think it should be killed, do you? " Gaius slowly shook his head.

"It is the last of the dragons. To do so would destroy the remainder of a once more powerful and ancient race than we humans."

"Gaius!"

Morgana had called out and the prince and the physician looked down, as a small smile crossed Merlin's face. Gaius spun around as the dragon shifted in its sleep. He was now positive he knew what the creature was showing the young warlock through dreams.

The days ebbed by. Arthur had assumed a seat at the mouth of the cave, watching for Uther's arrival. Morgana and Gaius spoke at infrequent intervals but mostly examined some medical journals Gaius had brought with him. Gwen sat in the same place as the time passed, cradling Merlin's head in her hands, watching as, at times, Merlin's mouth twitched into a smile or deepened into a frown at things Gwen couldn't see. All of them were too nervous to sleep, not knowing when the dragon would wake.

In the middle of the third night, Arthur came rushing over.

"I think they've just come out of the forest. Or at least I saw the torches. They should be up here by tomorrow evening." Gaius thanked Arthur, who returned to his position by the cave entrance, and then pondered his own thoughts, as he had been doing for the last few days, mainly involving the fact that the Great Dragon was his last link to... but he didn't want to think about that. That particular subject was far too painful.

Many silent and slow hours later, after the sun had passed halfway across the sky and was sinking towards the hills in the distance, Arthur heard a few grunts of breath and seconds later his father and a dozen knights, including Bedivere, came into view.

"Arthur, we found those two knights in a broom cupboard saying that they had been drugged by Morgana and her maid. Is Morgana alright? "

"She's fine. They're with Merlin-"

"The boy's still alive? " Uther looked perplexed. Had he thought Merlin would be eaten by the dragon?

"Yes. But Gaius said that the dragon had done something to him called _Draconis Coniectura_." At this Uther marched into the cave, his expression one of disbelief, to find Morgana and Gaius sitting around Gwen, who still sat supporting Merlin's head. The king glared down at his ward.

"Morgana, I thought I forbade you to go with Arthur. This beast is dangerous. If it was awake it could kill you!" he thundered. Morgana stood up, her face set in a look of defiance.

"But it isn't awake and I'm perfectly fine," she replied confidently. "I wasn't about to abandon my friend."

Before Uther could answer, there was a small whimper and they all turned to see Merlin, whose breathing laboured, had started to toss around; his movements however were hampered by the blankets. Not only that, the dragon had started to stir.

"Knights," Uther called and almost immediately, Arthur and the other knights came running. "Secure the dragon!"

The men ran towards the stirring creature, tying it down with ropes and nets, all except Arthur who jogged over to where the small throng of people were surrounding the boy. Uther moved towards the knights to observe their work.

"What's happening? " Arthur asked, trying successfully to keep the panic from his voice as he stared down at the maid who was trying to hush his servant.

"They're waking up, but they must be dreaming about something terrible, otherwise Merlin wouldn't be doing this," Gaius said over the boy's panting and moaning.

At that moment, the Great Dragon let out a mighty roar and the cave shuddered violently, causing everyone to look at the beast in downright horror. It opened both of its large luminous eyes but did not struggle against its bonds.

"Gwen..."

Merlin had stopped thrashing around like an eel and had finally opened his eyes. Arthur stepped back in shock and awe.

The young warlock's eyes were not the familiar blue ones. Instead they were intense gold, the same colour as the dragon's scale, just as Gaius had said. Even though the old man had mentioned side-effects, this was just plain scary.

"Your eyes!" Arthur shouted, but before Merlin could reply, both Gwen and Morgana embraced him, Gwen crying with happiness. He wrapped an arm around each of them, grinning up at Arthur and Gaius.

Uther, meanwhile, was now advancing on the dragon, drawing his sword from its sheath. Merlin heard the weapon being drawn and looked at the king in horror.

"No!"

Merlin was on his feet, running to stand between Uther and his prey, ignoring the hands that tried to grab him.

"Get out of the way boy," Uther growled. "You do not know what you are dealing with." Merlin seemed to ignore him and stood there defiantly.

"He's the last of his kind. Who wouldn't want to avenge the death of someone they loved, because they have nothing left? " he shouted back.

Arthur was feeling extremely tense. If Merlin wasn't careful, he would end up in prison for such insolence, or worse.

"Sire, surely you could spare it, or you would bring about the end of an entire species," Gaius called, rushing towards the king and the warlock.

"Be silent, physician," Uther said sharply, pointing his sword in the direction of Gaius' throat. He then glanced behind at Merlin. "Restrain him."

Two of the knights came forward and grabbed the young warlock. He struggled aimlessly in their hold. Morgana and Arthur rushed forward but Gaius held them back.

"Don't do anything," the physician murmured. "It may provoke him to hurt Merlin."

Uther had, by now, stepped over to the dragon, sword hanging at his side. To everyone's amazement, the dragon chuckled.

"You may as well destroy me Uther but no matter what you do or who you kill, magic will never be completely vanquished or forgotten."

A spasm of rage crossed Uther's face. He raised the sword and drove it into the dragon's back, into his heart.

"NO!" Merlin cried, as the Great Dragon let out a bellowing howl. Uther didn't even flinch.

"We leave when the sun sets," he said, briskly pacing away, the knights falling behind him, the sword dripping with crimson blood.

Merlin stood there, staring at the fallen beast, with no sign of ever moving again. Gwen slowly walked up to him, placing her hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to face her and Gwen saw his golden eyes were full of traumatised shock. She felt a surge of terror course through her as Merlin sank into a sitting position, once again staring at the dragon, twiddling his thumbs in his lap. Kneeling beside him, she hugged him soothingly, hoping that what Merlin had gone through since he had collapsed had not sent him mad.

Gwen then felt a hand resting on her shoulder and looked up to see Gaius smiling down at her.

"You can get your things ready, Gwen, I'll look after him," he whispered.

She stood up and walked silently over to Arthur and Morgana, who had also remained behind. Morgana smiled sadly at her then together they all left the cave.

Gaius was about to attempt talking to Merlin, when there was a low, weak voice.

"Merlin."

The warlock sprang to his feet. The Great Dragon was still alive but only just.

"Merlin."

The warlock sprinted to the dragon's side, closely followed by Gaius. When they were close enough the dragon spoke again.

"Do not torture yourself about what happened the last time you visited me, young warlock. The love for those we hold close to us can make us act irrationally and with vengeance. I must apologize for being so selfish myself." Merlin nodded, his fists tightening, turning to Gaius.

"I could save him. I could use-"

"Don't even try," the dragon interrupted. "Uther would find out about your gifts and he would have you killed and then there would be no Albion. It is my time to go and I go gladly, for I have seen many things and lost many, even in my egg."

"Can I just ask something? " Merlin queried. "Gaius said that you've lived for centuries but the dreams suggested that you hatched about twenty years before Arthur was born." At this Gaius spoke up.

"Merlin, when dragons age, it is slightly different from our way of doing so," he explained. "When an egg is laid, the dragon already has incredible mental abilities and has the power to see beyond the shell, even though they cannot move around of their own free will. They start counting the dragon's age from when they are in the egg and then after they hatch." Merlin looked confused.

"He speaks the truth Merlin," the dragon said, his voice becoming weaker. "Now, will you listen to me? "

The boy looked round, in case somebody had come back to look for them, before leaning closer towards the dragon.

"Look in the nest, the only remaining nest here. There you will find the future of my kind and part of your destiny. It is your turn to inherit our legacy, Dragon Keeper." Merlin was confused once more. But then he remembered the dreams about the small girl, who had grown into a beautiful young woman.

"That girl in the memories you showed me," he said. "Who was she? " The dragon smiled bleakly.

"That was _my _companion, the last Dragon Keeper, the one person who watched over me as I watched over her from when left my egg. Then Uther had her killed during the Great Purge." The creature then looked at the sun, which was almost touching the horizon. "You must go now, before anyone comes. Merlin, Gaius, it has been an honour knowing you both." With that, the dragon's large eyes closed, he let out a gasping breath and fell silent for the rest of eternity.

A single tear fell down Merlin's face but he wiped it away, standing and walked over to a bundle of sticks and bracken: the last dragon nest.

"Gaius."

The physician went over and peered into the thicket of dead plant life.

"Good Lord."

There, nestled carefully in the branches was a solitary dragon egg, white as snow and patched with specks of mud brown.

Merlin gently picked it up and felt a wave of happiness spread through him, suddenly feeling as if beforehand he had been incomplete yet now he felt whole. He smiled softly, clutching the egg to his chest. Gaius watched him, observing the emotion fill Merlin's currently golden eyes.

Behind them, the sound of approaching footsteps suddenly echoed around them. The two men looked at each other in terror before Gaius hurriedly opened his bag and Merlin placed the egg inside. Just as Gaius closed the bag, Arthur came around a pile of dragon bones.

"My father says we need to leave," he said, staring at the warlock in a peculiar manner. "Are you alright Merlin? " Merlin nodded, looking at the floor. Arthur turned around and began to walk away when...

"Arthur." Merlin was looking at him, attempting to give him a friendly smile. "Thank you. For coming after me." The prince grinned back.

"I've told you before Merlin, a half-decent servant is hard to come by," he joked, then proceeded to the cave entrance followed by Merlin. Gaius, however, remained where he stood for a few more seconds, lamenting the loss of the Great Dragon but realising that this was the beginning of a new era for dragon-kind.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7- The Egg and the Past

Morgana was seriously confused. She had gone to see Arthur about Merlin, wanting to know if Arthur had tried to go to see him since they had come back, which was two days ago, Gaius wanting to keep Merlin away from work to recover and not allowing anyone to see him. As she had arrived at the corridor which led to the prince's chambers, the doors to said room opened and Merlin had walked out. As far as Morgana knew, the damage the dragon had done to Merlin's room had been repaired, which had been, despite seeming otherwise, not as serious as it may have looked. So why was Merlin here?

When the boy had left, Morgana still didn't move. Then under her confusion burst anger. Storming into Arthur's room, she saw Arthur lying on his bed, staring at the canopy above him.

"Are you trying to make Merlin ill again? Gaius said he should stay off work until he's certain Merlin's in the clear!" she yelled. Arthur sat up slowly.

"He came up here five minutes ago, asking if he should polish my armour. I told him to go back. Apparently, Gaius had to leave, someone swallowed something and now they're really sick, so he slipped out. I said that if he carried on he could hurt himself. Then I told him to sit so we could talk. When he did sit down I asked him..." Arthur stopped, looking guiltily at Morgana.

"You didn't ask him about why he had defended the dragon, did you? " she said still angry, already guessing his answer. Arthur nodded.

"Arthur, I see why Merlin calls you a prat: you have no forethought whatsoever. The most likely reason is that Merlin felt sorry for the dragon because it had lost everything and was now the last of its kind."

The prince put his head in his hands.

"When I asked him, he just blanked and then walked out," he mumbled.

"Then why are you still sitting here? Go after him and apologize or is that too far beneath you, Arthur Pendragon? " Morgana cried, exasperatedly. Arthur immediately stood and left the room, closely followed by Morgana.

They searched practically everywhere. In the kitchens, all three halls, the library, Gaius' currently empty rooms and Arthur even had them check the dungeons and the dragon's cave but there was no sign of Merlin anywhere.

Meanwhile a hideous storm had picked up outside. The wind was throwing itself against the windows, howling shrilly, the rain following it, pattering ominously. Every now and again a roll of thunder could be heard over the wind and rain, accompanied by bursts of lightening.

"Morgana! Arthur!" From behind them, Gwen came running up. "I've just bumped into Gaius. He says Merlin has disappeared. Have you seen him? "

"We saw him about an hour ago and we've been looking for him ever since," Morgana said. "He's vanished, we couldn't find him anywhere."

"There's one place I think no one's checked," Gwen whispered, her gaze wandering to the window. Arthur looked at it to and suddenly realised where the maid meant.

"The battlements!" he cried, breaking into a run.

They pounded through the mercifully empty corridors, skidding to a halt at one of the doors that led to the battlements.

"Stay here," Arthur told the others. "I'll go and check." For once, they didn't argue. When the door was opened, a strong gust of wind nearly blew Arthur off his feet and nobody could see anything outside. The rain was coming down in sheets. However, unhindered, Arthur steadily paced outside.

"MERLIN? "

He plodded along the battlements, keeping near where he thought the wall was, searching for his manservant until a humanoid shape loomed out of the darkness.

"Merlin."

Merlin had heard Arthur's call but did not respond. The rain and the wind numbed his body, so that all he could feel were the emotions boiling inside him, not noticing his sodden hair clasping to his face or his soaked through clothes. The boy stood there, gazing misty-eyed at the black sky, the occasional flash of lightening showing up his pale face.

"Merlin, you idiot. Are you trying to catch pneumonia? " Arthur shouted over the thudding of the rain. Merlin still didn't reply.

Losing all patience, the prince grabbed him by the arm and all but dragged Merlin back inside. The latter didn't struggle; his still-golden eyes stared into space, emotionless and empty.

Arthur didn't bother stopping for Gwen or Morgana to even speak, he just walked on with his hand still in a vice-like grasp on Merlin's shoulder. The girls quickly followed behind.

They met an agitated Gaius at the physician's doorway.

"He was on the battlements Gaius," Arthur explained. Gaius sighed heavily.

"Of all the places to go, with a storm at the very least. Why, Merlin? " The warlock stared at Gaius, now shaking slightly, his complexion now the same as a ghost's. Gaius went closer and frowned. "Merlin, are...you...alright? " he said slowly, as if Merlin couldn't understand him. The boy just looked at him then his eyes flickered to the floor.

"What's wrong with him? " Gwen asked.

"Another side-effect: silently screaming at the world about the past," the physician replied. "What he needs is some sleep. He should be speaking by tomorrow." He then took hold of Merlin's arm and gently pulled him into the room, followed by the others. "Gwen, could you pass me that sleeping draught- the one by the quill on my desk." The maid did so and, without looking at the other two, Gaius took a towel off a chair and went with Merlin into the boy's room. He led Merlin to the bed and pushed him slowly so that he sat down and then went over to the door, closing it. Gaius then reached underneath the bed, pulling out the dragon egg and passing it to Merlin, who let it lie in his lap.

"Merlin," Gaius said softly. "Don't let what has happened drag you down. This egg needs you, if it is to hatch." The old man then watched as Merlin curled into a ball, hugging the egg close, shivering from the cold dampness that hung onto his clothes.

Gaius looked at him sadly. He had seen something like this before, years ago. The dreams lay heavily on the warlock's mind, as they had for the couple of days, tearing away at him. This only added to the pain, Gaius knew, still buried deep in Merlin's soul- the anguish that Nimueh had caused. Gaius hadn't been able to ask Merlin about the details of the dreams as Merlin had been asleep for the majority of the time since their return from the Hollow Nest.

The physician then remembered Merlin's predicament with the rain. Patting Merlin lightly on the shoulder, Gaius made to take the egg away from him, Merlin letting him do so but a look of reluctance. Once the egg was back under the bed, Gaius helped Merlin out of his soaked clothes, wrapping him in the thick towel, rubbing him dry until barely a drop of rain was left on him, the boy's hair ruffled. When Gaius was sure he was dry enough and showed no signs of an illness developing, he offered the draught to Merlin, who gazed at it for a few moments, pulled the cork out of it and swallowed it in one gulp.

At first nothing happened but then Merlin started to blink furiously, his head lolling forwards. His arms then went limp and he fell back, only to be caught by Gaius. The old man lay him gently on the pillow, afterwards pulling many blankets, which had recently been added to the one, over the warlock. Merlin's eyelids began to droop, finally closing completely, his body relaxing as the draught took him away from consciousness.

Leaning carefully over him, Gaius paternally moved Merlin's hair out of his eyes before walking out of the room, opening the door and closing behind him as quietly as he could. As he turned around, he found Arthur, Gwen and Morgana staring at him intently.

"He's asleep. He should be fine in the morning." The three let out a simultaneous sigh of relief, after which Arthur looked at Gaius inquiringly.

"What I don't understand is what Merlin saw that was so horrible." Gaius shrugged his shoulders.

"He could have been dreaming about many things. However, I think I know who the dreams were centred around," Gaius said, walking over to a chest in the corner. The young adults gave him an incredulous look, which he ignored, rummaging around in the chest's contents and pulling out an aged roll of parchment.

"The dragon was born to a keeper, not to long before Uther's reign began. It is more than possible that the dragon was showing Merlin things that happened to her," he explained, rolling the scroll open. Arthur couldn't help gawping at the portrait on the paper.

"You drew that? " Gaius' mouth twitched, his head bouncing up and down in a small nod. Gwen and Morgana were staring at the picture as well.

"She's beautiful," Gwen whispered. "What happened to her? " At this, Gaius stiffened, his face falling.

"She was a creature of magic so Uther had her killed- burnt inside her own home along with her father and brother, though neither of them could use sorcery. That is why Nimueh hated Uther so much, he destroyed her family. This woman was her little sister." Gwen gasped and Morgana's complexion went as white as a sheet, both trying not to imagine the dying moments of a convicted sorceress and two innocent men, remembering what it was like to lose their entire family. Arthur himself felt his stomach drop and he stared at the picture, trying to see the resemblance between this woman and the one who he had encountered in the Balor forest.

"She doesn't look much like Nimueh," he stated. "_And she definitely had better dress sense_," he thought remembering the ragged magenta gown.

The portrait showed a woman in a sweeping green dress, dark locks falling down her back. She was smiling kindly, although Arthur noticed her stone-blue eyes were weighed down with knowledge and sadness. He couldn't help appreciating Gaius' skill as an artist- she looked practically lifelike. There was also something rather familiar about her.

"Gaius, at the mountain, Merlin defended the dragon," Arthur said. "My father would usually kill someone who speaks against him, so do you know why he spared Merlin? " Gaius sighed and gave him an agonised look.

"Uther knew her and her family. He saw what happened to her when she first experienced _Draconis Coniectura_," he said.

"Which was? " Arthur asked, a hint of impatience creeping into his voice. Morgana scowled at him.

"When she woke, she was in hysterics for a week; refused to eat barely anything or sleep. She did some of the strangest things, like turning her father's hair white, and she kept shouting about the past. Uther himself got a lecture that lasted about an hour about how magic had been used to form the Hollow Nest; she couldn't help herself. I myself nearly broke my hand when she sneezed one time and it caused the fireplace I was stoking to collapse. This was only because she was young and it's hard to control magic at that sort of age. At the end of the week she went silent for an entire day," Gaius continued. "Merlin's case is nowhere near as bad. He is older than she was; he's been sleeping mostly, though he hasn't eaten; he only stopped talking about an hour ago, wasn't it? " He looked at Arthur.

"He was speaking when he came to see me after you'd left," Arthur told him.

"And he doesn't use magic," Gaius concluded, biting his lip at the lie, which the others didn't notice.

"The woman, what was her name? " This time it was Morgana who asked a question.

"Lara," the physician replied, smiling sadly at the picture.

Darkness surrounded him. There was the feeling of something cold passing over him and blinding light replaced the darkness in a second. He couldn't see anything through its intensity and he listened as the agonised screaming of a woman and the wailing of children surrounded him.

Merlin shot upright in his bed, breathing deeply, sweat clinging to his face. He threw the blankets off himself, trying to stand but fell back drunkenly, the draught still lingering in his bloodstream. The warlock lay there, gazing at the ceiling and concentrating on his breathing.

However, he was soon disturbed by a sharp tapping from underneath his bed. Scrambling onto the floor, receiving a head-rush in the process, Merlin reached out and pulled the egg from where it had been placed on the floor under the bed where Gaius had put it the previous night. What he wasn't expecting was for a network of cracks to be covering its surface. Merlin laid it on the bed and moved back a couple of paces away from the dragon breaking out of its shell. There was an almighty crack and the egg exploded. Merlin covered his face as the barrage flew towards him.

That was when he heard a small peeping noise. Lowering his arms, the warlock saw a tiny dragon staring up at him. He couldn't help gasping at the fact that this dragon looked almost exactly the same as the Great Dragon had, the golden hued scales shimmering and dancing like fire in the sunlight.

"Hello," Merlin murmured then coughed throatily. "You chose a good time to hatch, I just woke up." The dragon peeped again, causing Merlin to frown in confusion. "Can you understand me? " The dragon made the peeping noise again, bobbing up and down on the bed. Laughing, he picked the tiny creature up and held it close, a paternal edge creeping into his feelings, the happiness he had felt at the Hollow Nest intensifying. Merlin scratched it behind the ear and the dragon purred like a cat.

The door suddenly burst open, revealing Gaius standing there with a broomstick clutched in his hands.

"Merlin, what..." The physician's mouth dropped open, staring at the dragon in the warlock's embrace. "It's hatched!"

"Yep, it's hatched," Merlin said, still staring at the creature, now stroking its back. Gaius turned his gaze from the dragon to his ward.

"Are you alright Merlin? " The boy beamed at him.

"I feel great."

"You're not just saying that, are you? " Merlin shook his head.

"All the same, take this. It should stop a serious cold from coming about," Gaius said, handing Merlin a small vial of pale yellow liquid. Merlin drank it down absent-mindedly, still petting the small creature.

The dragon suddenly let out a small shriek and dived out of Merlin's arms. Moments later, the squeaking of a rat was heard on the other side of the bed. Merlin laughed.

"Well that's the rat problem we've been having sorted out."

"I hope you do know that no one can find out about this, otherwise Uther will kill this dragon and have you executed from harbouring a dangerous magical creature. I think you'll also find that this little one isn't going to be little in about six months." Merlin sighed at his words. Then, without provocation, Gaius stared at Merlin in an odd way.

"What? " the warlock asked.

"Your eyes, they're normal again." Merlin just shrugged and looked at his dragon.

"What am I going to call it? " Gaius went along with this change of subject.

"Well for starters, it would be useful if you knew if it's male or female." The boy gave him a horrified look.

"I don't really think it's appropriate to..."

"No, you don't have to do that. Does it have a silvery patch on its underbelly? " Merlin went over to the creature and gently lifted it away from its prey, sitting back on the bed. It complied without a fuss. He then lifted it over his head, smiling as the dragon struggled playfully in his grip.

"No it doesn't," Merlin told Gaius, lowering the dragon back onto his lap.

"That means its female."

Merlin then took up stroking the dragon again whilst gazing into space.

"How does Lybra sound? " Gaius frowned.

"Don't you mean _Libra_? "

"No, Lybra. _Libra _doesn't sound right. But like Libra, because I have dragon, I'm going to have to balance things out, like with scales." Gaius chuckled at Merlin's odd but good idea but this was short-lived as there was a knock on the door in the other room.

Panic rained. Gaius, who still had the broom, swept the remains of the rat out of view and the parts of the egg off and under the bed; whilst Merlin ran to the cupboard, hastily shoving Lybra inside.

"Listen to me. If you don't keep quiet and stay in here, they'll kill you. I'll be back later, OK." The dragon nuzzled his face, showing its assent and Merlin closed the cupboard doors, turning to see Gaius heading to see who was calling so early in the morning. A moment later, Arthur's voice rang through the room.

"Is Merlin alright? "

"Yes. I'd say he could start work again, although I wouldn't strain him too much, Arthur. He may show some more after-effects."

Merlin chose that moment to enter the room, smiling. Arthur was in the doorway, staring at him.

"I'll be fine Gaius. I've been asleep long enough to be able to polish some armour." Arthur rolled his eyes at the ceiling, following Merlin as he exited.

Halfway down the corridor, the warlock turned to the prince.

"So... what needs doing today, before you clobber me at duelling? " Arthur snorted at this. Both seemed to have forgotten what Gaius had just said.

"Well, my room is covered in dust, there's a pile of dirty laundry for you to clean..."

As Arthur continued his list, Merlin found himself thinking that hopefully things would get back to normal now, apart from keeping a dragon in secret as well as his magic. Hopefully.


	9. Chapter 9

**Again, sorry about the length of time between updates! I've had exams and keeping forgetting... **** This one is a double to make up for it. Hope you like this chapter and thanks for the reviews!**

Chapter 8- The Seamstress

Merlin couldn't believe how smoothly things had been going. Firstly, he had to spend most of the day with Arthur, leaving Lybra in Gaius' care, but Gaius also had patients to visit, which meant the dragon had to hide in Merlin's room. Secondly, he'd been teaching Lybra how to hunt - talking her through some techniques that he never used when hunting with Arthur which Arthur complained about - talk and use magic, meaning they'd either go on long walks or be shut up in Merlin's room for most of the night, communication being easy between them as Merlin had discovered that they could talk to each other mentally, though Lybra conveyed what she wanted to say with emotions and senses as she couldn't talk properly. Finally he still managed to eat, sleep and visit Gwen and occasionally Morgana. Not that everything didn't tire him out but it was quite easy to 'balance' thing. However, Merlin also had to contend with the weird dreams. He told Gaius about them but the physician had no idea what to make of them and Lybra just felt incredibly confused like her master. Merlin actually joked that he and Morgana had an illness that gave them nightmares.

Some weeks after the warlock's recovery, Merlin and Gaius were eating breakfast whilst Lybra devoured a lizard she had kept from the previous day, when Gaius dropped a bombshell Merlin hadn't been expecting.

"I trust you know that it's the Lady Morgana's birthday next week." Merlin choked on a spoonful of porridge. He continued to splutter but shook his head, frowning at Gaius.

"Well... now you do."

After taking a few deep breaths, Merlin was able to regain the power of speech.

"What day next week? " he whispered hoarsely.

"The twenty-first, which, incidentally, is how old she is going to be. It's also the Summer Solstice." Merlin sat there thoughtfully.

"It's June isn't it? " he asked. Both Gaius and Lybra looked at him inquisitorially.

"Merlin... what's... wrong? " Lybra said slowly. Her fluency with vocabulary was not yet perfect.

"With everything that's been happening, I completely forgot. It's my twenty-first birthday on the same day as Morgana's," Merlin muttered, more to himself than the others. Gaius raised his eyebrows but before he could say anything, Merlin had run into his bedroom then ran back out towards the door. "If Arthur comes, just say I've gone shopping." The old man and the dragon stared incredulously after him, baffled at his sudden departure.

The warlock walked through the streets, his mind fixing on the idea that had formed there, barely noticing the people around him. At first he couldn't find the shop he needed, trudging backwards and forwards until, at last, he found it. Cautiously opening the door, he stepped inside.

It was very dark, lit only by a few candles, blinds covering the windows.

"Hello? "

"In a minute," came a voice from another room.

Merlin stared around, taking in the many pieces of cloth, pin cushions and the occasional garment. He had heard that the seamstress was good at her job, refusing to just work for the court, though she preferred to keep to herself and had a mysterious past. Merlin could see that people weren't exaggerating.

"What can I do you for? " a voice behind him asked. Merlin span around to find a young woman standing there.

She was a small person, willowy in figure, her face smooth as alabaster and her ginger hair in a tight bun. Her mouth was spread in a broad grin, black eyes twinkling.

"Ah, the dragon boy. I wondered when I would finally meet you." Merlin was taken aback. How the hell did this woman know he was associated with dragons? He swallowed a lump in his throat as he shook her hand. "The name's Eleanor."

"Um... my name's Merlin-"

"Oh I know your name, boy," she interrupted. "Gaius visits me quite often and he speaks very highly of you." By now the warlock was stunned. How much did Eleanor know about him? Hopefully not much. "Well, I suppose you're here to buy something, aren't you? " she asked. Merlin broke away from his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh! Yes! I was wondering if the Lady Morgana and her maid have visited lately."

"Ah, yes. It's the Lady Morgana's birthday soon isn't it? But why would you need measurements for young Guinevere? Want to get her a little something d'you? " Merlin blanched, his pale cheeks turning red. "It's alright boy, I don't mean to be rude. It's a good idea; Gwen's been feeling really sad lately. No wonder actually, as Uther had her father killed. And poor Melissa died when Gwen was only six."

"Who's Melissa? " Merlin said quietly.

"Hmm, I'm not surprised Gwen doesn't talk about her, the finer details are quite upsetting. Melissa was Gwen's mother and she died of pneumonia. The horribly ironic thing is that she loved the outdoors. It was a real shame; she was such a sweet person, rather like Gwen is now. Anyway, enough of other people's privacy, time for those measurements." The seamstress turned to a large book, flipping through pages near the back until she slammed her fingers in two separate places.

"Here we go, these should do. The last time Morgana visited was last week and Gwen the week before that." She looked up at Merlin, a look of sudden of suspicion crossing her face. "Please tell me you're not planning on making these dresses yourself." Merlin shook his head.

"I honestly wouldn't know where to start. That's why I came here."

"Well, what do you have in mind for those two? "

"I don't suppose you could make a white dress for Morgana and a gold one for Gwen? "

"What patterns and design," Eleanor asked, writing in the large book.

"None thanks," he replied. Looking up from the book, the seamstress frowned.

"So you plan on giving them plain old dresses? " Merlin nodded.

"Something like that." Eleanor raised one of her eyebrows slightly.

"O...K... Well if you come back later, I should have them done."

"That's great. How much do I owe you? " Merlin asked, taking a small leather pouch out of his pocket.

"Oh no, you're not paying for this one. As they're a present for the Lady Morgana and a special lady; and the fact that I owe Gaius a few tips, I'm letting you have the dresses for free." The warlock just stood there, brow furrowed. "Well go on, put that way and scoot if you want me to them done by tonight," she said, her stern demeanour dripping with sarcasm, all but shoving him out.

"Thanks. It was nice meeting you," Merlin called, taking to a run up the street, outside. Eleanor didn't speak until he was out of sight.

"It was nice meeting you to, Emrys," she whispered to the wind.

Arthur was not in a good mood. Once, again Merlin was incredibly late. How many more times was he going to miss work? He stormed along passageways, coming to an almost abrupt halt outside Gaius' chambers and knocked, perhaps slightly harder than he had anticipated.

Inside, he could hear a flurry of movement before the physician opened the door to find the aggravated prince standing there in a temper.

"Gaius, where's Merlin? " he asked through gritted teeth. Gaius just smiled at him, which did not help Arthur's infuriation.

"I told him it was Morgana's birthday next week and he ran off, probably trying to find her something." He then gestured for Arthur to enter. When Arthur had sat down on a chair, Gaius handed him some wine. The price inhaled it deeply.

"Incidentally, it's Merlin's birthday on the same day as Morgana's. He also turns twenty-one," Gaius said casually. Arthur choked on the drink, slamming the wooden cup on the table.

"What! You are kidding me!" Gaius shook his head.

"Just don't tell him I told you. I doubt he wants the whole world to know."

The door suddenly burst open, Merlin running in looking slightly haggard. His face paled when he saw Arthur sitting there but all the prince did was grin.

"Merlin, where have you been? I was beginning to think you'd gotten into trouble again. I wouldn't really want to have to rescue you from another dragon or some creature like... a giant cockroach." Merlin raised his eyebrows at Arthur.

"Thanks for the concern but why the hell would I need you to save me from some giant cockroach? They don't exist, at least not in this reality."

"Meaning? "

"Meaning that not all of us live in the land of royal prats."

Behind them Gaius stared at them in amusement, trying not to laugh.

"You know," Arthur said. "Sometimes I don't understand why I don't just throw you in the stocks and throw away the keys."

"You'd get bored without me," the warlock retorted, something they both knew he had said before. Merlin then burst out laughing, his face lighting up. Even Arthur allowed himself a smile.

Merlin walked into his room, carrying folds of material.

Outside, the sky had turned into a pale peachy-pink colour, the orange sunset tinting the windows of Camelot.

Lybra was curled up on Merlin's pillow, watching her master with one luminous gold eye as he unfolded the material beside her revealing two dresses, one pure white and the other deep gold. The warlock smiled at the dragon.

"Don't tell Gaius I did this, please Lybra," he murmured. Lybra just blinked, a soft and playful growl rising from the back of her throat. Merlin turned to the dresses.

"Acrae udun sciera," he muttered, his eyes glistening gold. Nothing happened at first but then vines appeared on the dresses- silver on white, bronze on gold- circling around the neckline, the hem and the edge of the sleeves, leaves sprouting out from the intricate details. "Litra ae hudin." The dresses then distorted. The white one's shoulders disappeared and the arms slimmed, whilst the bottom half flared. The gold's neck formed a V-neck, the sleeves elongating to half the length of the dress.

The dragon laughed.

"Naughty Merlin."

With his work done, Merlin folded the items, placing them out of sight in his wardrobe. He then strode over to his bed and picked Lybra off the pillow, lying down with her on his stomach, stroking her back before falling into a deep sleep completely, forgetting to change.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 9- Birthdays

The next few days rushed by quickly. Too quickly in Merlin's opinion.

He was overjoyed when Lybra started to breathe fire, meaning that he and Gaius would never have to light the fire again. However, the flames had set Merlin's shoes alight, which took some time putting out. Luckily Gaius hadn't been there. After the incident, the warlock noticed that Lybra now spoke with flawless articulation.

Too soon, Merlin was facing the eve before his twenty-first birthday. He was sitting at Gaius' desk, drawing outlines on the dusty wood with his fingers, humming softly, whilst watching his dragon chase around a glimmering orb he had created.

He couldn't help feeling the tiniest bit sorrowful. Tomorrow he would be a man, whose childhood years had finally disappeared, innocent and carefree - well, almost- along with his teenage life, when he had first made friends with Will. Merlin continued to hum, a small storm raging inside him.

"Merlin!" Merlin looked up to see Gaius standing in the now open doorway, frowning in shock. "What was that you were humming? " The warlock shrugged.

"It's just something I've had on my mind," he replied calmly.

"But why that particular tune? " the physician said raising his eyebrows.

"When I was dreaming in the Hollow Nest, a woman sang that song," Merlin explained looking down at the grains embedded in the wooden table. "Just before Arthur's parents were married." Gaius was staring at Merlin sorrowfully. Up until now they had avoided talking about the dreams.

"What was her name? " Gaius asked, struggling not to show how he was feeling on the inside. He thought he already knew who the woman that Merlin was talking about was.

"I don't know... I've forgotten most of it but..." It dawned on him. "Lara. Her name was Lara. Raising his head, he noticed that Gaius' face had adopted an ashen expression. "You knew her, didn't you." It was not a question but a statement. Gaius' eyes were burning with badly suppressed emotion.

"Yes I knew her. She was a friend of mine." Merlin looked at the ceiling.

"I keep having this reoccurring dream involving fire. It was the last memory that the Great Dragon showed me."

"She... she was killed by Uther and his men. Her home was set on fire whilst she was in it," Gaius murmured. The warlock smiled at him sadly.

"I'm sorry Gaius." Next to him, Lybra landed on the bubble, which burst into a million sparks.

The day dawned, bringing blazing sunlight into Camelot. Merlin was woken by a ray shining through his window. He tried sitting up but found himself pinned down by Lybra. With one hand he tentatively patted her. Lybra opened her eyes reluctantly, harrumphing in annoyance.

"Pray tell why you're waking me up at the crack of dawn? " she mused, shifting her bulk off Merlin's stomach.

"Dawn was who knows how long ago. I need to take Morgana and Gwen the presents-" he said.

"But before that you need to go and check on Arthur. Merlin, it's not as if he can't dress himself, for crying out loud. By the way, many happy returns," she finished, laughter rumbling out of her chest. Merlin sensed her amusement as her ability to read his thoughts.

"I wish you wouldn't do that. It's like you're my new mouthpiece, meaning I don't have to speak anymore 'cause you're always cutting across what I'm trying to say." Lybra laughed again.

"If I did stop, where would the fun be in life? As you well know I can't help reading you. I am a part of you as you are of me. You're my open book, Merlin." Merlin gave her a wide grin. In some sense she was right.

"Are you hungry? " he asked, stripping off his nightshirt and pulling on his red one then proceeding to tie his blue neckerchief around his neck. Lybra gave him an exasperated look.

"Merlin, I ate half a deer yesterday. How could I possibly be hungry? I'm only half the length of your arm. I'd become fat. If anybody needs to eat a more than decent meal, it's you. You're skinnier than a skeleton."

"God, with you and your insults, you're as bad as Arthur if not worse," Merlin stated sardonically, stepping in his shoes.

"Well it's my job to annoy the hell out of you so that you don't end up one way or another. I don't know how I'd cope, mentally of course, if I let you die of starvation. Now, if you don't mind, I would like a lie in, so stop procrastinating here, go eat, see Arthur then the females." Lybra closed her eyes, whilst Merlin trudged over to the cupboard, grabbed the presents, now wrapped in folds of paper, then wandered into the other room. "_And please don't slam the door_" she said mentally. Merlin humoured her.

"I swear that dragon is..." he grumbled, turning to face Gaius. He trailed off mid-sentence.

The physician was standing at the table, a large brown parcel and a smaller next to a bowl of steaming porridge. Gaius smiled at him.

"Happy birthday Merlin." The young warlock just stood there, stock-still and speechless. When he began to regain his composure, he still couldn't convey a coherent sentence.

"I...I...you..."

Gaius pulled a stool from under the table, motioning for Merlin to sit. The youth walked over and sat down but he still stared at Gaius, his mouth still agape.

"Gaius you didn't have to-"

"Don't think anything of it," the physician interrupted, looking intentionally at him.

Merlin lifted his hands to the larger of the two packages and began to unwrap it, his trembling fingers. Underneath the browning paper was a square shaped block with thirty-two intricately detailed pieces- a chess game. He then discovered that the other present was a book of magic, not just of spells but creatures and herbs, and about the same size as his other one. Merlin was completely silent but he then stood and gave the old man a thankful hug.

"Thank you Gaius," he said, his voice muffled by the physician's shoulder, before pulling away.

"You do know how to play, don't you? Because if Arthur finds out you have a set, he will be constantly challenging you to a game and I warn you now, he's apparently very good," Gaius stated. Merlin grimaced, sitting down once more and gulped down large quantities of porridge.

A sudden knocking at the door interrupted Merlin's breakfast. Looking up, he saw Arthur's head sticking through the door, grinning like a cat that had been given its cream.

"Where's the birthday boy? " he snickered. Merlin glared daggers at Gaius.

"You told him!" he whined. Gaius simply shrugged.

"Well if he hadn't, I wouldn't have gotten you a present, one that may help your lack of skills," Arthur retorted.

"Let me guess... some boot polish? " Merlin shot back, eyebrows raised. Gaius rolled his eyes at their bantering.

"No, actually," was the reply and then the prince produced a long object, covered by red cloth, from behind him.

"Oh. Is it a broom? If you look in any of the broom cupboards around the castle you should find hundreds."

"Merlin, for God's sake, just unwrap it, we haven't got all day."

The warlock cautiously did so, revealing, not a broom or anything else to do with cleaning, but a sword, its hilt bound in spotless black leather, the narrow blade covered by a scabbard of darkest blue.

"What! Arthur why-" Arthur silenced him with a stern look.

"You can't expect to keep borrowing someone's sword. Heck, I had my own by the time I was seven," the prince reasoned.

"Thanks Arthur," Merlin said, conveying a smile of gratitude. "But how will this help me and my 'lack of skills'? "

"Because you really aren't that good at fighting, Merlin. It's getting a bit beyond the joke."

"And giving me a sword automatically means that I'll get better at fighting, not that I'm not grateful."

Gaius chose that moment to intervene.

"Don't you think you should go to see Morgana? Merlin's not the only one with a birthday today." They both looked at him, sheepishly.

"Right, sorry Gaius," Merlin muttered, picking up Gwen and Morgana's presents. Both he and Arthur made for the door but Gaius called after them.

"Could you give this to Morgana and give her my best wishes," he said, handing a long package to the warlock, who nodded.

"See you later, Gaius," he called as the door closed behind the two young adults.

There were a few moments of silence as they trudged away.

"So... have you asked anyone to the dance yet? " Arthur asked, a small grin playing across his rugged features.

"What dance? "

The prince's eyes went heavenward.

"Honestly, Merlin. Where have you been for the last few weeks? Everybody has been talking about finding it; it's to celebrate Morgana's birthday. Do your ears not work, as well as the fact that you're the renowned klutz of the castle? "

"I've been busy," the warlock said indignantly.

"Well, if I were you, ask Gwen. There's been rumours going around that she's already been asked by five people, including Sir Percival, and she's turned every single one of them down, saying she's waiting for a certain someone," Arthur told him, staring deliberately at Merlin, whose cheeks became tinged with a slight pink tone.

"I've got a question," Arthur continued. "Why do you have three packages for Morgana? " At this, Merlin went pinker still until he was on the very verge of red. He gulped, his Adam's apple bobbing in his thin throat.

"Um... only two of these are for Morgana. The other one's for Gwen." Merlin lowered his head to avoid Arthur's bemused gaze. Arthur then burst into a fit of laughter.

"WHAT! Why would you need to buy her something? It's not her birthday for God knows how long," he hollered, regaining speech after his bout of raucous giggling.

"Gwen hasn't exactly been happy lately, what with... well, you know, her father. I know for a fact that she was upset when you were bitten by the Questing Beast and when I was cursed-"

"Hang on! How do you know she was upset about you being cursed? Not that it wasn't obvious." Arthur was staring incredulously at his manservant. Merlin continued to look at the floor as they walked.

"I heard some things when I was unconscious. I've never heard her so... it's like she thought she was hopeless," Merlin mumbled, deep in thought, trying to remember.

She'd been crying but he wasn't about to tell Arthur that; and that she didn't want to lose him- he wasn't talking about that either. Merlin felt a sudden rush of guilt at having been so ignorant towards her feelings and, at the same moment, something else stirred deep inside him, something that he had not anticipated.

"Anyway, who're you going with? Most likely half the woman in the court would kill to be your dance-partner," Merlin teased, smirking at the scowl Arthur gave him.

"For your information, I've got to go with Morgana. Father was adamant about it but she didn't complain, which is odd in itself."

"True. If I remember, the last time you accompanied Morgana to a celebration, the pair of you ended up arguing about who saved who and then she said she would have preferred Knight Valiant to have escorted her."

At that moment, they arrived outside Morgana's rooms. Merlin knocked and there was a shuffling from behind the door before it was opened. Gwen poked her head through the gap.

"Hi," she said, smiling widely.

"Hi!" Merlin replied. Arthur couldn't help noticing that his manservant's cheeks flushed slightly.

"_Boy is he going to get it later_," the prince thought, laughing in his head at Merlin's obvious infatuation with Gwen. "Is it alright if we come in Guinevere? " He glanced down the corridor. "What the hell is that? " he shouted, pointing.

Falling for it, Merlin looked and Arthur mouthed, "_Keep him busy whilst I help Morgana finish_," at Gwen to which she nodded.

"There's nothing there, Arthur. Have you been drinking too much wine? " Merlin said, scowling at Arthur. The prince ignored him.

"Is it alright if I speak to Merlin out here for a second? " the maid replied. Arthur side-stepped inside, leaving the confused warlock with Gwen.

Gwen rummaged in one of the pockets in her dress, bringing out a lump wrapped in green cloth and handed it to him after he had tucked the packages under his arm.

"Happy Birthday Merlin," she said softly. Merlin was taken aback. How many people had Gaius told, for heaven's sake?

"Gwen you didn't..." he trailed off, his eyes glistening with surprise. It was then he decided to tempt fate.

Um, Gwen... I was wondering... that is if you want... I'd understand if you didn't... but I was wondering if you'd like to go to the dance with me." As soon as he had finished, his cheeks and ears turned tomato red. He felt he now knew what it was like for Gwen when she was in an embarrassing situation.

Gwen beamed at him, her insides flipping.

"Merlin, I'd love to go with you," she answered. It was Merlin's turn to smile now and Gwen couldn't help laugh at his goofy grin.

"Oh yeah, I have something for you," he said, remembering the present that was squeezed under his arm. "I'd open it now otherwise Arthur may not be able to contain himself." Gwen gazed at him in astonishment.

"It's not my birthday yet, Merlin," she whispered, her smile widening.

"I know. I just thought you'd like a little something, what with everything that's happened lately. It's not much but I hope you like it," he whispered in kind. Gwen noticed that his eyes were shining with different emotions, all at the same time, the blue swimming like an ocean.

Looking down at the soft package he had given her, she carefully unwrapped it and stiffened in shock as she unfolded the golden dress, her eyes turning bright. She looked the warlock full in the face and before she knew it her arms had flung themselves around his neck, her lips glued against his. At first she felt terrified and her heart fell but Merlin responded, moving his mouth in synchronisation with hers. When Gwen had regained feeling in her body, she pulled away, leaving Merlin to stand there, arms hanging limply at his sides though is hands still clutched the other presents, mouth slightly open.

"Merlin I-" But before she could finish, he stepped forward, right in front of her, shaking his head slowly, reaching up with one hand to stroke her cheek, with the other he put his index finger on her lips.

"Don't apologize Gwen, you never have to apologize to me," he said so quietly and so passionately.

The door burst open, revealing Arthur standing there, his face dominated by impatience. The two immediately jumped apart, each paling with embarrassment.

"Are you two coming in because Morgana wants to see the final guest? " he asked, brow furrowing in suspicion, eyes moving to the dress in Gwen's hands. Merlin swallowed hard, his mind reeling but he paced towards the door, smiling at Gwen beforehand. However, he'd barely moved when Arthur grabbed him from behind, promptly placing his hands over Merlin's eyes, blocking all light.

"What the...? " the warlock was bewildered at Arthur's actions.

"Just walk forward, otherwise you'll have an angry Morgana to answer to," the prince demanded jokingly. For once, Merlin didn't argue and went hesitantly inside, walking straight forwards.

"SURPRISE!"

Arthur's hands ceased to obscure his vision and Merlin looked on in wonder.

Morgana was sitting at a small table, which was laden with food. It wasn't that extravagant but all the same it looked delicious. There were a few pies giving off a fresh aroma; some large rolls that were lightly seasoned, a ham lavishly glazed with honey and a few other assortments. Merlin's mouth dropped open.

"Did you raid half of the kitchen's larder? " he said exasperatedly but his mouth jerked up into an indulgent smile. Arthur clapped him on the shoulder.

"No, but we were tempted to," he laughed.

"More like Arthur was, as his stomach is as controlled as his temper," Morgana countered, voice dripping in sarcasm. Gwen giggled and Merlin guffawed whilst Arthur glared at the king's ward. Merlin then remembered the present for Morgana.

"Happy Birthday," he said, handing it to her. Morgana's eyes lit up and in one swift movement the white dress was unfurling in her hands. Arthur couldn't help rolling his eyes.

"For the love of all Merlin, how many other women have you bought dresses for? " The manservant looked at him sceptically.

"Only for Gwen and Morgana, if you must know."

"You bought one for Gwen? " Morgana asked appreciatively. Once again, Merlin's cheeks reddened slightly as he nodded.

"Well, I think that was very sweet of you Merlin," she said, glaring at Arthur before embracing the warlock. Letting him go, she looked at his hands. "Aren't you going to open Gwen's present? " Merlin almost slapped himself for forgetting. Casting Gwen a wide smile he unwrapped the small present in the green cloth. When he had, he breathed in a shocked gasp. Sitting in his palm was a small crystal dragon, its details impossibly intricate, the sunlight bouncing of it, giving it a twinkling effect. Merlin then placed the dragon on one of Morgana's smaller closets and went over to the maid, hugging her close, burying his face in her hair, breathing in the empowering scent of freesia and honeysuckle.

As Arthur watched the two servants, he didn't feel any annoyance or sarcasm and not a single tasteless remark came to mind. Instead he felt slightly envious of the relationship the two servants shared, as he noted how delicately Merlin held Gwen against him and the way they shyly averted each other's gaze.

It was then Morgana's turn to open the presents from Arthur and Gaius. Arthur had given her a silver bracelet embedded with emeralds; and Gaius had supplied Morgana with a scroll on Latin that she said she had wanted for some time.

"Right then," Morgana said, smiling at Merlin. "I thought you may like this." She handed him a soft package, like the ones he had given her and Gwen. He took off the neat coverings and a jacket tumbled out. It was quite a lot like the one he was wearing at the moment.

"Thanks Morgana," Merlin said smiling, giving her a one-armed hug which she returned.

"Hate to spoil these lovely exchanges," Arthur intervened. "But all this food we nicked is going cold." Gwen laughed, Merlin raised his eyes to the ceiling in a bemused way and Morgana muttered a couple of profanities, cursing the prince's impatient stomach. "I didn't know you could swear Morgana," Arthur teased.

"Oh like you never have. If I remember, Uther gave a scolding for doing so in front of some nobles when we were twelve," she retorted, giving him a murderous glare. Arthur returned the favour and muttering mutinously under his breath he threw himself into a chair at the table. The others followed, Merlin trying with all his might not to laugh at Arthur and Morgana's exchange.

The meal was, in Merlin's opinion, one of the liveliest he had ever attended. Conversation was unstoppable, making Merlin the centre of attention for quite a while as he chatted about his life in Ealdor before he had come to Camelot, after being pestered with questions, whilst they all ate through their delicious horde. Arthur found this very interesting as Merlin never really talked much about himself. They also recapped on what had happened when Arthur and Merlin had first met, which had ended with Merlin in the stocks and what had happened since then. They laughed and grimaced at many things, Merlin constantly reminding Arthur that he was a prat and an ass. However, when they turned to the subject of dancing, everything ground to a halt when Merlin revealed something.

"I can't really dance," he said, looking glumly at his plate.

"What? " Arthur scoffed. "Dancing is practically one of the easiest things in the world."

"Says the person who couldn't dance until he was seventeen," Morgana muttered loudly.

"When you last danced with Morgana, Arthur didn't you keep standing on her feet? " Gwen tittered. "In the end she challenged you to a duel." Merlin couldn't help snorting into a pastry he was eating, imagining a younger Morgana and Arthur battling it out over the dignity of dancing.

"Instead of talking, shouldn't we be helping Merlin find his feet? " Arthur stated, trying to direct the girl's comments away from humiliating memories.

Gwen stood, holding out one of her hands for Merlin to take, which he did nervously, praying he wouldn't cause a complete catastrophe.

All in all, it didn't go to bad, or at least that's what Merlin thought. He managed not to cause any bodily harm to Gwen, at least. Arthur and Morgana demonstrated how to perform some basic steps and Merlin attempted to copy them with Gwen's help. Fortunately, Gwen was a very good dancer so he let her lead.

Too soon, the sun was sinking into the west, filling Morgana's room with a blazing orange light. Time had flown by so fast that none of them had realised how late it was getting.

"We need to get ready," Arthur said reluctantly. "Merlin come on. I think these two want to get ready and bring that jacket."

He and his manservant excuse themselves and took off to Arthur's chambers, Merlin wondering why he needed the jacket. When they got there, Arthur instructed Merlin to fetch his armour and sword, to which Merlin raised his eyebrows.

"Since when did you need to wear all of that to a dance? "

"God, you really are behind the times aren't you Merlin," Arthur tutted. "After the dancing part, there's going to be a sort of tournament." Merlin's mouth formed the shape of a small 'o' and he went to fetch the prince's heavy armour. It was a wonder to Merlin how Arthur managed to support all of that weight.

"Merlin, what did Gaius give you as a present? " The warlock looked up from strapping a metal plate to Arthur's arm.

"A chess set," he replied simply. Arthur's expression became excited.

"Really? "

Merlin immediately regretted telling him, remembering Gaius' words about the prince apparently being very good at the game and what Arthur said next made him wish he'd kept quiet.

"Remind me to give you a game later, I haven't played against anyone in ages," Arthur continued. Merlin made a mental note not to do so.

When Arthur was ready, he turned around to scrutinize his manservant.

"I'd put on that jacket Morgana gave you." Merlin tilted his head to the side in confusion.

"What, don't I have to wear that ridiculous costume? " Arthur let out a hollow laugh.

"If you want to but that would waste your other present."

"Huh? " Merlin stared at him, his face frozen in a look of incredulity. "What 'other present'? " Arthur smiled at him.

"I'm letting you go as a guest instead of as a servant," he told the warlock. "And before you ask, Morgana agreed to let Gwen go as a guest as well since you asked her." It took Merlin a few moments to process this information.

"Thank you Arthur." Arthur went over to him and clapped him on the back.

"Just put that jacket on so we can get going before we're late and miss the girls." After Merlin had discarded his jacket and pulled on the new one, they raced back to Morgana's chambers. Outside, they straightened themselves out before knocking, as they had done earlier.

"Come in," called Morgana's voice. The men stepped inside and simultaneously drew in a sharp breath.


	11. Chapter 11

**A note from Hannah: Thank you so much for reading and reviewing this. I'm glad people are enjoying it. Don't panic! Lybra isn't going to die or turn evil. I don't plan on being the one who kills off the dragon race. I'm glad you find her cute. I hope you enjoy the rest of it and I'm sorry a couple of chapters have been a bit short.**

Chapter 10- The Green Knight

Before them stood two dark haired beauties: one in a white dress, skin as pale as snow; and one in a crisp gold dress, merging perfectly with her creamy ivory complexion. Morgana's hair, as usual, cascaded down her back, lying on her shoulders. Gwen had lets hers out of its bun and had pinned it loosely, the dark locks bouncing with every movement.

Arthur felt like he had gone into shock or had suffered from a heart attack. He couldn't take his eyes off the two inexplicably beautiful women and he was almost certain that Merlin was in the same state as he was; what sane man wouldn't be?

Morgana was looking at Merlin and Arthur with a cheeky grin on her face and Gwen's eyes were shining with excitement.

"Are you two going to stop gaping at us like a couple of fish or will we have to drag you down to the hall? " Morgana asked, folding her arms impatiently. Merlin was the first to break out of his trance, swallowing hurriedly, chewing his lip.

"You both look... well..." He broke off, glancing quickly at Arthur, who seemed to only just be returning to earth. Silence rang in the room for another minute.

"Well, this is awkward," Arthur stated. Everybody giggled and the giggling soon turned into a fit of laughter. Arthur even had to clutch at a chair as he felt as if his sides were splitting.

Their laughter would have lasted much longer, if not for a knock at the door announcing a servant-boy, who stared at Morgana and Gwen, like Merlin and Arthur, before snapping to attention.

"The king has asked me to tell you that the dance will be starting shortly," the boy squeaked hurriedly, snapping the door shut behind him as soon as the words had left his mouth. Merlin felt pretty sure that the boy would be gossiping to all the other servants about Gwen and Morgana.

"Boy," Arthur breathed. "If he was staring at you like we were, I'd expect many more goggling people."

"Hopefully not if we stay at the side," Gwen piped up.

"Yeah but that would be impossible for Arthur, he can't stick to the side without making an entrance," Merlin joked, grinning slyly. Arthur scowled at him.

"Merlin, I think I will throw you in the stocks again-"

"Oh for the love of all, let's get going otherwise Uther may send a search party, and I don't think he'd be too amused if we were late because of you two and your comments about each other. He'd most likely throw you _both_ in the stocks!" Morgana burst out hotly, abruptly grabbing Arthur by the arm and pulling him out of the room. Merlin and Gwen stood there for a few seconds until Merlin held out his hand and Gwen took it, entwining her fingers with his. They walked out both beaming from ear to ear.

Morgana and Arthur were waiting for them on the other side, Morgana with her head tilted on Arthur's shoulder, smiling peacefully.

"I think I heard some people walking down just now," Arthur said, if a little too enthusiastically. Merlin thought that, by his expression, Arthur was one of the happiest men in the universe, owing to the fact that he had such a rare beauty next to him. Merlin felt the same but towards the one who had her fingers laced together with his. They then walked down the corridors in utter silence, avoiding each other's gaze.

Merlin found himself wondering what Lybra had been up to that day.

"_Not much if you must know_," a voice echoed inside his head. The warlock had to struggle not to yelp in shock or show any on his face.

"_Stop doing that! I don't really want to give it away that I'm hearing a voice inside my head. That would lead to seriously awkward questions for both me and Gaius_," he replied.

"_I've told you before; I can't help it, fluff-ears. And if you must know, I've been hiding in your room for the better part of the day. I found another rat under your bed_." Merlin clenched his teeth together. 'Fluff-ears'!

"_I was right, you are worse than Arthur. At least he doesn't come up with colourful new names all the time; it's just 'idiot' or 'buffoon'_." He heard a grating chuckle on her side of the link.

"_Speaking of colourful, congratulations. You've finally landed a woman or rather she landed you. Honestly, some of the things you've been thinking today. Gaius even considered proscribing me with some sort of medicine: they were that 'lovey-dovey'. Not that I'd drink it; foul smelling stuff. I never understood how you humans could stand stuff like juniper berries mixed with mandrake or some sort of concoction like that."_

"_Lybra, you didn't tell him anything did you? "_

"_Do you really think I would? It's your privacy and I'm not one to gossip, though it doesn't mean that _I _won't tease you_."

"_You do know that I can think about a woman in a romantic way anytime I choose_," Merlin thought heatedly.

"_Fine, whatever. Completely off the subject, I warn you now, if you come back with a foul hangover like the ones you sometimes get after you've over-indulged at parties, by tomorrow morning your shoes will be nothing more than a pile of cinders_."

"_It's a dance, not a party so I won't be drinking. And I love you too Lybra_." The dragon made a tutting noise, afterwards leaving his mind alone.

"Merlin, are you alright? You look agitated," Gwen's voice reached his annoyed brain. She had let go of his hand and was gently squeezing his shoulder. Morgana and Arthur were also looking at him inquisitively.

"I'm just... thinking," he murmured pathetically. The prince snorted.

"Merlin, whenever you think, catastrophe normally follows. Remember when Gwen was accused of sorcery and you thought you could take her place-"

"Yes thank you Arthur," Merlin cut across edgily. It wasn't Arthur's fault. He didn't know that it was he, Merlin, who had saved Gwen's father which had resulted in Gwen nearly being burnt at the stake. He hated that memory as his stupidity had almost resulted in the death of an innocent girl.

Soon they were standing in front of the large double doors. The two nobles entered the hall first to tremendous applause. Gwen and Merlin followed, keeping to the side of the room, looking on as their friends walked to the middle of the vicinity, preparing for the opening, faces set.

As the music started, Merlin motioned to Gwen, silently asking her to dance with him. They twirled slowly on the spot, giving the warlock time to take in his surroundings. He couldn't help noticing that many of the men were staring at either Gwen or Morgana, enraptured by their beauty. Neither did he fail to notice the look of shock and sadness that Gaius kept giving Morgana. Merlin wondered at it shortly before turning back to Gwen.

"There's a ton of people looking at you," he whispered, smiling softly, holding her close and resting his chin on the top of her head. She responded by snuggling closer.

"It doesn't matter," she replied. They were now just revolving on the spot.

"Has anyone actually told you how utterly gorgeous you are this evening? " Merlin sighed. At this, Gwen's cheeks flushed.

"I think he did try but he couldn't get the words out," she said squeezing his hand to which Merlin laughed.

In the middle of the dance floor, Arthur and Morgana were doing a slow sort of two-step, their gazes fixed on the other couple, assessing their every move.

"What did you tell Merlin to make him ask her? " Morgana asked humorously. Arthur turned to her, his expression matching hers.

"I don't think I would have had to say anything if he'd known about the dance in the first place," he answered. "But I just said that she was waiting for a 'certain someone' to ask her." Morgana once again looked at the pair.

"I actually haven't seen them this happy in ages. Not since that business with Gwen's father."

"We should play match-makers more often," Arthur murmured, grinning. Morgana looked up at him appreciatively.

"Arthur Pendragon, you actually like the fact that your manservant is your friend, don't you? " she teased. Arthur didn't reply and cast his gaze around the large room. To Morgana's surprise he suddenly stiffened.

"Is it me or are my father and Gaius giving you funny looks? "

The king's ward turned her head in the physician and the king's general direction. Arthur was right. Occasionally both would glance at her in an odd way; Gaius's face was sad and full of loss as if she reminded him of someone; Uther's confusion, drumming his fingers on his chair. These were looks she had never seen them give her before.

Uther soon stood up, announcing that the tournament was about to begin. What had seemed like minutes had really been a few hours. To Arthur, that just wasn't fair.

"I've got to get ready," he whispered.

"Good luck," Morgana said, planting a small kiss on his cheek, unashamedly. Arthur felt a new burst of energy exploding inside of him and he touched her face wordlessly.

"Ladies and gentleman," Uther called. "If you would like to clear the middle of the hall we shall start. The first part of the tournament will be between Sir Bedivere and my son, Arthur Pendragon."

As the many people retreated to the sides of the hall, most taking seats that had been placed around the edge, Arthur and Bedivere stood in the cleared space, poised like snakes.

It was Merlin's opinion that the fight was incredibly quick. He was rather surprised that Arthur had overcome Bedivere as fast as he did because Merlin's lack of skills with a sword prevented him from provoking more complex swordsmanship, but then again Arthur was the best fighter in the kingdom and he didn't train with Merlin all of the time.

Gwen squeezed his hand again and he turned to her. She smiled at him. She had noticed how he had been observing the battle with extreme concentration, doubt sometimes crossing his features.

"I seriously don't think he'll lose to anyone, he's the best in the kingdom. Rel-"

The door to the hall suddenly burst open and a shrill wind came through, echoing around the room. Illuminated against the outside darkness by the burning torches was a figure shrouded in dark green, a dull helmet masking their features, battle-worn and scratched. Everybody stared at the person in bewilderment; either in confusion or, especially in Uther and Gaius' case, in downright horror.

The figure then started towards the king. When he stood directly in front of Uther, he surprised everyone by sinking into a bow.

"Sire," he said in a deep tone that rang around the hall.

Arthur was watching his father; his expression mirroring everybody else's of utter astonishment, as Uther looked coldly at the stranger. To Arthur's surprise, another emotion crept up on his father's face but it was quickly stifled. Was it fear?

Finally, after many strained and tense moments, Uther once more regained the power of speech.

"Welcome, Sir Æbald."

Gwen was surprised by Merlin's reaction to the king's words. He had immediately stiffened, his face turning pastel pale. He then clutched her hand in a vice-like grip and stepped in front of her, as if this man posed some threat to them. Merlin's face was now one of complete shock and disbelief.

"Merlin, what's wrong? " Gwen asked as quietly as she could. No one apart from her had noticed the warlock's now protective stance.

"Æbald," he hissed back. He didn't look at her, his eyes fixed on the newcomer. As he looked, Æbald twitched his head in his direction, like he had heard Merlin say his name.

Merlin's mind was racing. Why was Æbald here? Had he finally come to take revenge on Uther for killing his family? Had he found out about Nimueh? Did he want revenge for his sister's death?

"Do you know him? " Gwen said. Merlin didn't answer but by the way his pallor lost more colour, she could guess how he knew this person.

Æbald was now speaking in an undertone to Uther, who nodded every now and again, his face set. At one point, the helmeted knight looked quickly at Arthur and asked the king something. A small argument then commenced and no one else was able to hear what it was about. After a while Æbald seemed victorious and Uther finally stood whilst the knight revolved on the spot, turning his gaze to Merlin and Gwen. Gwen shuddered under his impenetrable gaze, though she could not see the man's eyes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is a slight change of plan. To signify the return of one of our oldest knights, as well as the celebration of the Lady Morgana's birthday, the next part of the tournament is between my son and Sir Æbald," Uther declared, which was answered by many mutterings.

Merlin did not like this at all. If Æbald had come to take vengeance on Uther, why was the king making it so easy for him to kill Arthur?

On the other side of the room, Morgana was having a mental battle with herself. One part of her brain was telling her to plead with Uther. This stranger looked potentially dangerous and some part of her was screaming to Arthur about the danger. But for some reason the other half of her mind held her back and she couldn't say why. Even as the two men took to the centre of the chamber she just sat there, her fear for the prince bubbling inside of her.

The green knight had drawn his sword and was jiggling it in his hand, his unnerving gaze now fixed on Arthur. Arthur himself was starting to feel uneasy. This man held the aura of foreboding around him and Arthur had never seen him fight, though he too held that advantage. He fleetingly remembered the Black Knight that had killed Owain and what the knight had said before he went to his death.

Uther then signalled for the fight to begin and Arthur passed the first blow which Æbald blocked. The fight continued as such for the next few minutes- Arthur attacking and the knight on the defensive, parrying Arthur's advances with apparent ease. However, soon the positions reversed. Æbald started to swipe at the prince, stepping forwards with each attack, Arthur feverishly preventing the sword from hitting home, realising, too late, that his opponent had been toying with him.

Merlin was now pondering whether to use magic to protect Arthur from being hurt by the knight, trying desperately to think of a non-verbal shield spell. He could not let Arthur be killed.

The warlock was then pulled from his thoughts as Æbald performed a complicated move that had Arthur's sword spinning out of his hands, the knight's sword now hovering inches away from the prince's chest. An unnatural silence choked the air as everybody stared on in horror. Arthur was giving Æbald a cool, calculating look. Then the sword was back in its sheath, the knight bowing curtly to Arthur in the same movement.

All eyes were on the stranger who had just defeated the most accomplished fighter in Camelot, as he retreated to the back of the hall, leaning against the granite wall close to where Merlin and Gwen were standing. The warlock once again became animate and side stepped around Gwen, relaxing slightly. Uther then began to break up the tension by continuing the tournament.

As the evening progressed, many of the audience kept shooting Æbald looks of fear and suspicion. The knight didn't seem to care. He just held his head high, watching the other participants of the tournament win or lose.

Merlin was doing all he could to forget about Æbald, forcing himself to look at Gwen or the competing knights. It seemed that Arthur may have gotten over the humiliation of losing but he did seem to be putting more power behind his blows than was necessary.

The evening drew to a close and Uther excused everyone. The first person to leave was the green knight, who stalked out as quickly as thunder. The rest of the guests left more slowly, many debating about the matches - mainly the one where Æbald had defeated Arthur - or exchanging bets with gleeful looks or sour faces.

Gwen and Merlin caught up with Morgana and Arthur, the group stepping outside. Gwen then broke the silence.

"Merlin, you know that knight. He was in the dreams wasn't he? " she asked. The other two looked at Merlin.

"What!" Arthur exclaimed. Merlin swallowed and cast his gaze ahead of him.

"Yes, he was," he said, sighing.

"Did he know Lara? " Morgana queried. The warlock looked at her in confusion.

"How did you-"

"Gaius told us. He said that he could guess what the dreams were about because the dragon had been associated with her," the king's ward cut across.

"Well did he? " Arthur said, a note of serenity in his voice. Merlin nodded.

"He was her brother."

Those few words caused the three to exclaim in horror, their feelings reflecting what Merlin had felt when the knight had first appeared.

"But he's dead," Morgana whispered.

"Sorry? " Merlin was frowning.

"Didn't Gaius talk to you about it? The night you were outside in that storm, he told us that Lara died along with her father and her brother," Morgana explained. At this, Merlin eyes widened.

"You don't think... he's managed to come back to life for revenge," Arthur stuttered. "He may have been able to do magic like Lara."

"I don't think so," Merlin told him. "He may have escaped the fire for all we know and if he had come for revenge, he might as well have taken it when he was fighting you."

"What if he's come here just to take revenge because of Nimueh? The fact that you killed her wasn't really kept quiet," Gwen wondered, her expression becoming worried as she looked at Merlin.

"Then that would mean he's only come for me," Merlin said. "Hopefully that'll means that he won't bother Camelot."

"Merlin!" Morgana burst out, coming to a halt and everyone else did the same. "Don't you dare think for a second that we'd let someone hurt you. You're our friend, although some may not care to admit it." She looked pointedly at Arthur. Arthur just looked at a suit of armour they were passing, pretending he hadn't heard her.

"I don't want you to sacrifice yourselves for me Morgana," Merlin answered back. "I couldn't live with myself if someone hurt any of you because of me." Morgana opened her mouth to argue but Gwen interrupted.

"Please don't fight," she said boldly. "We don't know for sure why he's here, so can we please stop talking about it." Merlin stepped behind her, folding his arms around her waist.

"Sorry," he mumbled into Gwen's hair, rocking slightly.

"Shouldn't we be getting to bed? I think I'd like to go hunting tomorrow," Arthur said, once again experiencing that envious feeling in the pit of his stomach. The young warlock planted a kiss on Gwen's forehead, mumbling grumpily about Arthur's occasional hunting sprees. He then made to follow Arthur, but the prince shook his head.

"I think I'm capable enough of getting changed by myself." Merlin arched one of his eyebrows but didn't say anything.

As the four friends, nobles and servants, went their separate ways for the evening, Arthur called to the warlock.

"And don't be late Merlin. I want to leave bright and early." Not for the first time that day, Merlin's eyes rolled in their sockets.


	12. Chapter 12

**Thanks for the reviews and patience. :D Some more big revelations in this chappie!**

Chapter 11- The Impossible Happens

This dream was not as detached as the others. Instead of the usual snippets of events, her dream was a scene, rather like the one of Arthur's dream.

A proud house stood by a lake, moonlight dancing off the water's surface. A solitary figure stood away from the house, head held in apparent defiance towards a small congregation that was approaching, many holding torches, all on horseback. As the group drew closer, a few of the horsemen detached themselves from the main body, riding towards the person. When they were right in front of the figure, a voice rang, easily recognisable.

"Is she here? " asked Uther's voice. The figure folded their arms.

"She is, as is Æbald. I gather you saw through the rumours." A man's voice came from the shadowed figure, answering her question to whether the person was either a man or a woman.

"No, I merely used common sense," Uther replied. "She isn't the sort of person who would run off to Italia."

"And do you honestly think I would let you drag her off? " the man asked angrily.

"She is a sorceress. Evil appears on this earth as magic and magic flows in her veins. I have seen the power she possesses and it is too dangerous to be allowed," Uther stated.

"She has done nothing... nothing to jeopardize Camelot. Neither has Nimueh," the man shouted. "You are not the only one who misses her Uther. You have no idea how it has affected us all. I've only seen Lara and Æbald since her death. The others are nowhere to be seen. It's torn the family apart and Lara's been bedridden."

By the tone of his voice, what Uther said next sounded like he was straining not to lose his temper.

"My dear Leonardo, magic has warped your perspective. If you help me rid the abomination of sorcery, we can protect future generations from a dominated fate and stop the people from falling back into anarchy," Uther reasoned. However, this statement was met by a hollow laugh.

"Uther, have you forgotten the loyalty of families? " Leonardo said, his voice full of anger. "I have a loyalty to my family, as a father, and I will protect them no matter what. I may have failed them on some occasions but I will defend them and their gifts whilst I still have breath in my body." With that, he turned away from the king and stormed back inside the house. Uther sat there for a few painfully silent moments before addressing his men.

"Burn it. Make sure no one can escape."

Soldiers brandishing torches stepped forward, throwing them at the large house. The flames licked at the walls for a short while before catching alight. Within the minute the building had been engulfed by flames and the army were retreating away, leaving it to burn. A mighty roar echoed around the land, one of agony and fury and loss.

Morgana jolted awake, bolting into a sitting position, her breath coming out in sharp gasps. Tumbling out of her bed, she stumbled over to her table. Slumping into the chair, she laid her head in her arms.

Images from the dream flickered continuously in her mind. Uther's enraged face, the furious man called Leonardo, the burning building. The roar still buzzed in her ears. Morgana could guess what she had seen. Uther's execution of Lara and her father and brother.

The father had mentioned others. Morgana couldn't help but wonder who he had meant. He may have meant Nimueh but who else did he mean? And who was it who had died? The king's ward heaved a sigh, pondering why mentions of Lara were cropping up everywhere and whether they meant something was going to happen.

It was then Morgana realised that this had happened in the past, possibly before she had been born. She felt the urge to go to Gaius and tell him about what she had seen. He may have an answer as to why she was now dreaming of the past as well as the possible future.

A groan of the floorboards made Morgana glance at her mirror before she span around, her pale face masked with horror. She didn't even have time to scream.

Lybra cocked her head as the door slowly opened and Merlin entered, placing Gaius and Arthur's presents on his table, muttering about leaving Gwen's present in Morgana's chambers. He then fell back onto his bed, groaning. Lybra watched him from the pillow.

"Oh for heaven's sake Merlin," the dragon puffed. "It's only a hunting trip. I'd rather be out and about than being stuck indoors all day. I don't think I'd want to meet all of the grumpy members of the gentry who have suffered from lack of sleep."

"Are you constantly complaining for a reason? " the warlock grumbled.

"Yes, actually. I seem to be the only one who has both our interests at heart and all this negative talk is meant to keep you in check," she replied.

"Come here you," Merlin said, snatching her off her seat and proceeded to tickle her shimmering underbelly. Lybra allowed him to do so for a few moments before growling, noticing something was wrong underneath Merlin's happy facade.

"What's the matter now? "

"Do you need to ask? "

"You're worried about Æbald. You think he may be back for revenge. But you're also concerned that he may be a wraith like that Tristan person, because one he didn't take his helmet off so you couldn't see his face and two he supposedly died years ago," Lybra summarised.

"Exactly."

"Have you spoken to Gaius? Maybe he could help? "

"No, he's already asleep. It's late anyway and I need to be up early for the hunting trip," Merlin said, slumping onto his bed again, whilst Lybra jumped off onto her makeshift nest at the foot of Merlin's bed.

"'Night Lybra," Merlin whispered sleepily.

"Sleep well, lover-boy," came the reply. The warlock chuckled, rolling onto his side and fell asleep, not bothering to change.

He was standing in an all too familiar room. Books lined one of the walls on shelves suspended halfway off the floor, accessible only by wooden stairs that led to another room. A small fire crackled in a grate and many medicines, parchments and quills were littered around. A brown haired man was at a desk, reading a thick volume, rubbing his temples. He recognized this man as another younger version of the physician.

The man then stood and began to walk over to his bed in the corner but there was a knock at the door which caused Gaius to turn in its direction.

"Come in," he called.

The door creaked open and in stepped an elegant beauty with raven hair, blue eyes and alabaster pale skin. She wore a deep green gown which went down in a V-neck and hugged her arms and torso before flaring out. Lara.

"Hello Gaius," she said sadly. The physician stared at her for a few seconds, wide-eyed, before snapping out of his trance-like state.

"Lara, are you alright? " The woman looked at him, holding his gaze in an impenetrable stare before walking over to him and hugging him close. Gaius responded by wrapping his arms around her shoulders, his face dark with confusion.

"What's the matter? Have you seen something? " he asked, kissing her head softly.

"Not exactly."

"Where have you been for the last five months? Surely you needed to be here and help Igraine with her pregnancy."

Lara's eyes slowly filled with tears. Pressing her head against Gaius' chest, she began to sob.

"We've been in Italia. Æbald, father and I went there because Aunt Naevia had become fatally ill. We were travelling for two months. She died a week after we arrived, despite all we did to save her, even with magic. Rufus was a mess. Father sorted out Naevia's affairs for him and we all had to help him through, especially with the funeral. That was at the end of July and then we were travelling again. We got home just now. Æbald and father are telling the other two and Scales is talking to Angara, you know her, she's the dragon that keeps an eye on the Hollow Nest and they were always good friends. I've come to see Igraine. But I felt I had to come and see you first," she whispered whilst crying.

"No one ever did think of a proper name for that dragon, did they," the physician teased slightly. Lara gave a tinkling laugh.

"Well we know who to thank for the nickname," she tittered but her face fell again.

"That's not what's bothering you, is it? " Gaius asked, knowingly.

"No," Lara said, still crying. "Something's going to happen, Gaius. I don't know what but I think it's going to be centred around Igraine's baby."

"Is it good or bad? "

"Honestly," she sighed. "I have no idea."

"Do you want to go and see Igraine? Or can I cheer you up first? " Gaius was now holding her at arm's length, smiling warmly.

"You don't have to cheer me up old friend. I feel better just by talking."

But the physician let go of her and had started to open drawers, pulling out a brown piece of parchment, a thin stick of pointed lead and a few pastels.

"Gaius, what on earth are you doing? " Lara asked, her mouth forming an indulgent smile as she wiped her eyes.

"Stand still and keep smiling," the physician murmured. He started to scratch away at the parchment with the lead, eyes flickering from the paper to the woman and back. Sometimes he grinned at her and her smile would widen. Soon Gaius dropped the lead onto his table and began scribbling with different pastels, and after what seemed hours he took a deep breath.

"Can I move now? " Lara asked. Gaius nodded, flattening the parchment out. The young sorceress went over to him. As she stared at the picture she gasped.

"Gaius!" The physician looked at her, grinning like a small child. "In all the years we've known each other, you never said you were an artist," Lara exclaimed, pushing him playfully by the shoulder.

"Has this cheered you up? "

"Yes. Thank you Gaius." Lara made to kiss Gaius on the cheek but as she did so the physician moved his head a fraction and she kissed him square on the mouth. They stared at each other for what seemed an eternity, heads hovering close together. Neither of them moved but in the next second their arms were around each other, lips glued together and their eyes closed.

"_Merlin, wake up!_" someone cried. "_For the love of God wake up!_" Merlin's eyes snapped open and he propped himself on his elbows.

Lybra was thrashing in mid-air, some invisible force holding her there.

"Merlin, look out!" she cried. "She's not dead!" Merlin slowly turned his head to the other side of the room. Then he jumped out of bed.

"Impossible. I killed you," he whispered.

"Yes you did, Merlin," said an instantly recognisable, hated voice. "But being a priestess of the old religion can have its perks." The warlock's teeth gritted together.

"Let her go, Nimueh. She has done nothing wrong."

"Nothing wrong!" the sorceress shrieked sceptically. "She chose a companion who denies his full potential, a weakling. You sit around here allowing Uther to destroy our kind, hiding instead of taking your place in the world. A dragon must be foolish or cowardly to choose you as their keeper. A strong leader is needed, not a prince's manservant." Merlin was now shaking with violently with fury, hands clenched.

"If you hurt her, I'll-"

"Now, now. There's no need for threats. I wouldn't want to hurt dear little Lybra. She's far too valuable. However I may be tempted to if you do not comply and neither would the Lady Morgana." The young warlock paled over and continued to shake.

"What's Morgana got to do with any of this? Leave her alone," he shouted.

"I think you know Merlin. Her dreams have been quite accurate about the future. Too accurate in fact." Nimueh smiled wickedly at Merlin, who glared furiously at her. "She... is... a... witch. You thought that she was just a seer but she also has some magic locked underneath her power of foresight."

"What do you want with her and me for that matter? " Merlin growled. Nimueh once again smiled her malicious smile.

"Uther has gone too far with his prosecution of magic and Camelot is at an end. We need to take it and restore magic to the land. Sorcerers throughout the land have become confused and they need support."

"Then what happens after all of this? You take over the world? "

"If it is necessary."

"So you want me to join with you for world domination. Never. I refuse to help you rule mankind," Merlin said defiantly.

"What if your friends' lives hang in the balance? Morgana... Arthur... Gaius... Lybra... _Guinevere_," Nimueh sneered. Her threat had the desired effect. Merlin appeared to wilt.

"Don't you dare, Merlin! Without you, Camelot is nothing. I am but an inconvenience. They all need you," Lybra cried.

"Silence, dragon," Nimueh snarled. "So what's it to be warlock? You come with me and I let your loved ones live or you refuse and I kill everyone leaving you with your guilt for the rest of your life."

"You'll leave them alone? You won't hurt or kill any of them? " Merlin asked, all fury leaving him, his blue eyes glistening with defeat.

"I'm afraid I can't promise to leave everyone alone," she replied, sneering once more at her prey. Merlin suddenly collapsed backwards onto the floor, clutching at his chest, choking as some power pummelled the breath out of him.

"What are you doing? " Lybra howled, writhing in the air as she unsuccessfully tried to break free. Her question was never answered. A blinding light filled the room and when it had gone both Merlin and Nimueh had vanished.

Lybra felt herself tumbling down to earth but she didn't care. She hit the floor but didn't move, staring in shock at where her master had been lying. Then she remembered that it should be impossible for the sorceress to have stood there and do those things in the first place. Merlin had killed her to save Gaius.

The small dragon then thought about why Gaius hadn't come in here because of all that commotion. Had Nimueh done something to him? Lybra barged into Gaius' room but it was incredibly dark. There was only one thing for it.

"_Gaius!_" she cried mentally. "_You need to wake up now! Merlin's in danger!_" This telepathic contact was rather difficult. She had never in her life talked like this to anyone but Merlin and she had no magical connection to anyone else.

"Lybra? " came a croaky voice from somewhere in the room. "What's wrong? What's happened to Merlin? "

"Gaius, thank whatever gods there are," the dragon exclaimed. "I thought something had happened to you. Turn a light on or something, I can't see a thing."

There was a quiet ruffling noise, coming from where the physician was, and the room filled with the eerie glow of a single candle, which lit up Gaius' face.

"Lybra what has happened? " The dragon sank to the floor, the weight of stress finally collapsing on her.

"Oh Gaius... I don't understand it myself... Something like this is meant to be impossible," she stuttered. The physician's eyebrows rose quizzically. "Gaius, Nimueh has come back from the dead. I woke up because Merlin was muttering in his sleep again. Then the next minute, Nimueh was standing over him. I tried to stop her. Merlin woke up and she said she would kill everyone Merlin loves if he didn't go with her. She hurt him... I couldn't do anything," Lybra explained.

"But... how can that... her life was taken to restore the balance of the world!"

"That's not all. She says she also has Morgana. Apparently Morgana is a witch, something about her full power hiding underneath her foresight." Gaius stared at her in shock, unable to speak for a few moments.

"We need to tell Uther. If we don't, he may think she either ran away or was abducted by bandits."

"That's not far off. Nimueh may count as a bandit, renegade, whatever," Lybra mused. "Hang on a tick though, how are you going to explain that Nimueh took them because they have magic, without mentioning the magic? And you can't expect me to come with you. I'd be killed."

"That bit's easily thought of. I could tell Uther that Nimueh took Merlin because she wanted revenge because he had killed her; and she took Morgana because she is close to both Uther and Arthur."

"Fair enough," Lybra said. "You may want to say that it was you with Merlin when he was taken otherwise... well how else could you know? " Gaius immediately bustled out of the room but not before speaking to the dragon once more.

"Stay here Lybra."

"Where else am I going to go? " she called after him. Lybra flew back into the other room and landed on Merlin's bed. She lay there for what felt like ages until her troubled thoughts were interrupted by a helmeted figure standing in the doorway.

"What! You can't be here!" she squeaked.

"Calm down Lybra, I'm here to help," said a deep voice.

"You know my name? "

"I know a lot of things, including that Nimueh has taken young Emrys and Morgana." Lybra stared at the figure in disbelief.

"I guess Merlin and his friends thought that I was here for revenge. To put your mind a rest, I'm not, just as I explained to Uther."

"Then why are you here? "

"Let's just say I have Camelot's best interests at heart. Cutting to the chase, I need you to come with me."

"How can I trust you? "

"You can't really. But I need your help otherwise we may all die."

The small dragon scrutinized the figure for a minute, taking into account that if Gaius had known and trusted Merlin's predecessor, he would have known and may have trusted this man.

"Alright. If I come with you, what do you want me to do? "


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12- Caves, Bandits and Revelations

Arthur swore the whole world was going mad. Some guards had come to wake him up in the middle of the night, saying his father needed to see him urgently. When he had arrived at the council chambers, he had found a distraught Gaius standing next to the king, who had his head in his hands. This had puzzled Arthur but his confusion turned to downright horror once the two had explained what had happened. Now he felt nauseous. Nimueh had returned from the dead? She had also taken Morgana and Merlin for who knows what reasons.

It was now dawn and Arthur had assembled a battalion of Camelot's soldiers as a search party. After what seemed ages and many strategy discussions, the party were due to set off with Arthur in the lead. It was then that someone called his name.

"Arthur." He prince twisted in his saddle to see Gwen running towards him. Swinging off his horse, he jogged up to her.

"Gwen? "

The handmaiden drew a deep breath before answering.

"I just came to say be careful. And I also want to ask..."

"Ask me what? " Arthur asked encouragingly, smiling at her.

"Bring them home Arthur. Please bring them home. You know how much they both mean to me and to you too." Arthur patted her awkwardly on the shoulder.

"I'll be fine Gwen and so will Merlin and Morgana, I promise," he reassured her. She smiled.

He turned back to his horse and climbed back on. Within the hour, they had set off.

"_This is hopeless_," Arthur thought, kicking a rock in frustration. Two days had gone by, two days with no sign or whisper of the illusive Nimueh. The sun was sinking over the tall trees of the forest, casting an orange glow over the camp. Arthur was staring at the sun, his mind buzzing with anger. "_Where the hell could they be? We've searched practically everywhere and there's still no sign, so where are they? _"

The search party had split into four after leaving Camelot and Arthur's company had been searching the eastern side of the kingdom but wherever they looked there was nothing. Arthur was also quite sure that, if they hadn't, none of the other search parties would have Morgana or Merlin.

If neither of them were found, what would he tell Gaius, Gwen and his father? What would he tell Merlin's mother? Arthur gulped thinking about what he had promised Morgana's maidservant but was interrupted by a cry coming from the other side of the camp.

"_For crying out loud, what now!_" he thought. Drawing his sword he ran towards the commotion and stopped dead when he saw what was causing it. Bandits. The largest group of bandits he had ever seen was crashing through the trees and undergrowth.

The battle that ensued was one of the worst Arthur had ever been in. The bandits were cutting down his men one by one, mercilessly. A feeling of dread crept over Arthur, ensnaring his mind, as he fought off the tirade of men. They wouldn't win. They couldn't win. His men were too few against the massive congregation they were fighting.

A roar filled the forest, shrill and scary. A sudden spur of fire shot through the air, surrounding Arthur in a ring, trapping him. Many of the bandits panicked and fled, leaving bodies and mayhem behind them. Only a few stayed behind. All of Arthur's men were dead.

Someone gave a deep war cry and a body shot towards the remaining bandits, who fell like stones. By the time there were only a few left the ring of fire had died down and Arthur once again entered the fray. Soon all of the bandits were dead and Arthur looked at his rescuer.

"You? !"

The deep green clothed knight was standing there, sword stuck in the ground.

"Hello there Arthur," said the deep voice of Æbald.

There was a crashing noise from behind them and Arthur turned to see a blood-stained man running at him, a dagger in his hand.

"ASTRICE!" A bright orange beam shot out from behind him, striking the man in the chest. The man collapsed, dead.

Arthur span around, once again facing Æbald, who had his hand outstretched. As he watched, the man lowered his hand and muttered something else. Arthur suddenly felt numb, as if a huge weight was crashing down on his head. He saw the ground come up to meet him and his vision began to grey out. He lay there, drowsy, someone now kneeling beside him until his world went away completely.

Merlin awoke to biting cold. His eyes flickered open to soft darkness. He could make out the contours of the sides of a massive cave, which gave off a blue glow. He tried to move but found he was chained to a large boulder. Looking up he spotted a still, pale figure lying on a stone altar.

"Morgana!" he shouted, tugging at the chains.

"She can't hear you," came a voice from behind him. "Have you never read about enchanted sleep in that book of yours, Merlin? " Out of the shadows, Nimueh's form condensed like thick smoke. She was smiling at Merlin's indignant expression.

"Let her go. You have me; you don't need to use her. She doesn't know anything about this and she was taught to hate magic most of her life," the warlock growled.

"Yet recently she was feeling sympathetic towards our kind, wasn't she? " Nimueh countered. "She helped save the druid boy and then she made a deal with that sorcerer called Tauren to kill Uther."

"She didn't go through with it though," Merlin snapped. He focused his magic on the chains that bound him, willing them to break but all he felt was emptiness.

"Don't even bother," the sorceress drawled, snidely. "Only a fool would forget to take precautions against a warlock like yourself."

"Are you stalling on destroying Camelot just to gloat? "

"Yes actually. You killed me and I want you to feel the impact of what you're about to do," she said whilst laughing. Merlin caught the meaning of what her words meant and went pale.

"I'm not killing anyone. I won't hurt anyone either. It's already cruel what you plan to do," he cried.

"Need I remind you what will happen to your friends if you don't do as you're told, little boy? " Nimueh snarled, eyes flickering to Morgana as she muttered a spell. A ball of fire appeared in mid-air, hanging over the king's ward. It slowly lowered towards her body.

"No! Don't!" Merlin looked at Nimueh in horror and at her gaze his body sagged and he hung his head. Nimueh smiled again and the fire extinguished itself.

"A bit defeatist aren't you, warlock. Don't you usually put up a fight even when you're friends' lives are threatened? Or have you lost your nerve? " Merlin's head rose and he stared up at her, hatred sparkling in his eyes showing her that defiance was still there, trying unsuccessfully to hide in their ocean-like depths. "Now then my dear warlock, this is going to hurt but there isn't much you can do about it." She clapped and, as her clap echoed around the cave, a small haze of black smoke came into existence from out of nowhere. Merlin felt his stomach sink as he watched the smoke drift in his direction. His body tensed and his breathing quickened. Nimueh was laughing again but this time it was powerful and victorious. She continued to laugh as the smoke hovered in front of Merlin and he inhaled the gas-like magic.

Merlin's head was on fire. His brain felt like it was frying; his eyes felt as if they were being stabbed repeatedly and he scrunched them against the agony; and worst of all, he couldn't breathe so he choked painfully, which only added to the excruciating pain, something wet dribbling out of his mouth, which was suddenly full of the taste of blood. His ears rang with the sorceress' laughter and a loud gagging noise, which he knew was coming from him. He had lost all feeling in his body. He lay there unmoving and choking and almost certainly dying. Then his already dark world became darker still and everything went silent.

As he came back to consciousness, Arthur felt incredibly warm. He opened his eyes groggily, staring at a small, welcoming fire and he heard the nickering of horses behind him. Arthur tried to sit up but his actions were hampered by a small lump digging into his side. He looked down to see a small golden creature, the size of a large cat, pressing against his side. Arthur did a double-take, goggling at the small thing. It was a...

"Yeah, that's a dragon," a said a voice. On the other side of the fire was the deep green armoured figure of Æbald. Arthur nudged the dragon away from him and sprung to his feet.

"Stay away from me sorcerer," he growled, reaching for his sword. It wasn't there.

"I'm not going to let you kill me until after you listen, young Pendragon," Æbald said, motioning for the dragon to move away. Arthur watched the small creature flap into the air, hovering awkwardly.

"This is impossible. All the dragons are dead. I saw my father kill the last one," he exclaimed, eyebrows furrowing. What happened next made the prince jump in surprise.

"You humans are so typical," the dragon huffed sarcastically. "You're always trying to deny things even when they're blatantly staring you in the face."

"Now there Lybra, don't tease. You know how ignorant a few people are in Camelot are towards magic," Æbald scolded before turning back to Arthur. "I see what people mean. You look almost exactly like your mother, God rest her dear soul." Arthur was taken aback by this turn in conversation.

"You knew my mother? " he asked slowly.

"Oh yes, I knew her. She was one of the kindest people I ever knew. I was shocked to hear she had died." Arthur felt his face fall. At the same time his stomach did so too, but violently. Æbald appeared to scrutinize for a minute but Arthur couldn't tell properly, for Æbald was still wearing his helmet.

"I know you're wondering about the magic. Truth be told, it took me years to learn even the simplest stuff," the knight said.

"Why did you even bother? Magic is evil and dangerous," Arthur almost shouted. To his surprise, Æbald gave a chortle.

"That's your father talking. Magic isn't evil in itself boy. It depends on how you use it and what you use it for. It's the character of a person that shapes spells and enchantments." Arthur folded his arms.

"All I've seen magic used for is evil even if my father did prohibit its use."

"Igraine would be sorry to hear you say that Arthur. She would have told you exactly what I have."

"How would you know what my mother would have thought? " Arthur spat. Æbald sighed heavily.

"Come with me. I'm going to show you something," he said, beckoning Arthur to follow.

"How can I know if I can trust you? You may be leading me into a trap."

"You can't really," Æbald replied.

"Do you want me to provide a light? " Lybra asked.

"That might be useful, thanks Lybra," Æbald replied. The two men looked on as the dragon took a deep breath and emitted a large fireball from her muzzle, the fireball floating a few feet in the air, giving off a vibrant pulse of light, bringing their surroundings into sharp relief.

Arthur stared around. Scarred trees created a circle around them, not one of them bearing leaves. They were in a small clearing, covered by large, dead roots and on the other side was a monstrously large rock poking out of the bottom of a hill, the crest unable to be seen by more dead trees covering it.

"How did we get here? " Arthur said.

"We rode," Æbald explained shortly. "You were out of it for an entire day. My fault really, I overdid the spell. I had to get you away from there." Arthur scowled, trying to ignore what the man had just said about him using a spell on Arthur.

"What about all my men? Did you leave their bodies there? " Lybra rolled her eyes in, to Arthur, a familiar manner.

"Oh yes, we'd leave the mangled corpses of brave men lying around for the crows to eat," she snorted.

"We burnt the bodies," Æbald said, swatting a hand at the dragon. "Now come on you two. I need to show Arthur that thing before we stop Camelot being destroyed." He strode over to the gigantic rock and inspecting it. Arthur turned to the dragon.

"How do you fit into this? " Lybra paused before answering.

"Someone I love is involved and they're missing. I'm hoping to find them and that's how I met Æbald." Arthur looked back at the green knight.

"Do you know what he's doing? "

"No, not really. I'm going along with it anyway. He says he wants to help stop Nimueh from destroying Camelot so I think we should trust him."

"How do you know about Nimueh? " Lybra blanched at the question but was spared answering when Æbald called to them.

"Get over here. I've found the entrance." Arthur sprinted over, staring at the blank face of rock.

"The entrance to what I'm going to show you."

"Why did you have to look for the entrance? " Lybra asked. "Surely an entrance would fill the whole rock-face."

"Ah but it depends where the keyhole is," the knight said. "It moves around to a different place on the rock, once every day and you have to use magic to sense it. There's also a password."

"How do you know? Have you been here before? " Arthur asked.

"Yes, my father used to bring us here occasionally and sometimes Lara and I would sneak out to come here." Æbald now sounded sad. "Back then I couldn't use magic so it was always her who had to open the entrance. Since then I visit here twice a year, though I have to be careful not to bump into Nimueh. She comes here all the time."

"I know that your house was burnt down with you inside it," Arthur said. "How did you get out? " Æbald looked at him, his features masked by the helmet but Arthur could feel the knight's eyes boring into him.

"When Uther came for Lara, my father went to face him. We saw them confront each other through the window before I dragged her towards the back, trying to get her out. Then my father came back in and found us about to leave. That was when the house set on fire and it fell on top of us. I woke up later and after pushing some debris of myself I tried to find their bodies lying around me somewhere. I found them both. My father was dead but Lara was still alive and I held her as she slipped away from me forever. I couldn't save her and she was too weak to use magic to save herself. Uther had left; he hadn't bothered to check that we were all dead. I later saw in a lake that I had been horribly scarred and that's why I wear this," he explained, pointing at the helmet. "Don't ask me to take it off; I'm a horrible sight to behold. I heard about that man called Edwin Muirden who tried to kill Uther but this is much, much worse. After that day I trained myself in magic, never revealing myself to the world until now, swearing I would never let those close to me suffer like that again, if indeed I did find someone to care for. Though I now think that if I had revealed myself, Nimueh would not have become like she is these days."

"I'm sorry," Arthur whispered, trying not to imagine his father rip this family apart. It seemed so wrong, even if the woman had been a sorceress too.

"You may want to cover your ears," Æbald mumbled. "This is going to be quite loud." Covering his ears, Arthur watched the other man closely, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Lybra had covered her bat-like ears with her claws. As he couldn't hear anything, it appeared to him as if Æbald was just staring at the rock with his hand touching a certain area. What he didn't know therefore was that the knight muttered a few words that anyone would have recognized. A grinding noise filled the air, causing Arthur to scrunch his face in irritation. When it had finished, Arthur saw Æbald shake his head like a dog but otherwise he seemed unaffected by the sound. Lybra was muttering about how she thought her eardrums had burst. Meanwhile, a large hole had appeared in the rock, opening into complete and utter darkness.

"Lybra, could you..." Æbald said jerking his head at the opening where a little shelf stuck out of the side. The dragon spat a jet of flame out of her mouth. The fire collided with the shelf and it shot away in a straight line, lighting the cave with the flickering essence. Arthur stepped cautiously inside, staring around at what was inside.

Nothing was actually in the cave, only stray boulders or pebbles scattered across the floor. But painted onto the cave-side facing the trio were two people. One was a man with blonde hair and emerald green eyes. The other was a woman with horribly familiar raven hair and blue eyes.

"Isn't that Lara? " Arthur asked. Æbald walked up behind him.

"No, she isn't," the knight said, his voice once more a voice of sadness. "That, Arthur, is my mother, the Lady Ælfreda. Lara had wavy hair and, as you can see, my mother's was straight." The prince stared at the picture of the woman before turning to that of the man.

"Is he your father? " Æbald nodded his head, letting it hang towards the floor. It was then that Arthur noticed the entrances to three other caves.

"Is there anything down there? " Arthur waved his hand casually in the entrances' directions. At this the green knight became animate again.

"Ah yes. Follow me and brace yourself." Æbald then paced towards the middle opening, followed by the other two. The next cave was lit like the previous one and was even larger.

"Look over there," Æbald told the prince, pointing at one of the walls. Arthur looked and squinted in confusion. Five more people were painted onto the stone, all smiling and sitting or standing around a large golden dragon, which looked rather like the one that his father had killed at the Hollow Nest. There were two men and three women. Arthur didn't recognize either of the men but he thought they looked familiar. Two of the women were dark haired with their blue eyes: one, Arthur knew, was Nimueh and the other was Lara. When he looked at the final figure he felt his entire being go numb.

She was pale and elegant like the other two, though instead of dark hair hers was a corn-coloured blond. Apart from her long hair and feminine stature this woman looked exactly like Arthur. He spun round, looking wide-eyed around the rest of the cave, catching sight of five tunnels. Each had a painting of one of the five characters by them and by the middle one was another picture of Arthur's mother.

"My mother... was... your sister? " Arthur gasped breathlessly, turning back to the knight.

"Yes. I told you I was shocked to hear she had died. The truth of it is, I thought she would always be there, so full of life as she was. She was one of my best friends, albeit one who annoyed the hell out of you as I did to her." Arthur then spun back to the painting of the five and the dragon.

"But who are these men? "

"That one," Æbald, touching the painting of the blond man. "That one is me. Lara was my twin." He then moved his other hand to the other man. "This was Igraine's twin brother, Tristan."

"Is he dead? " Arthur queried. Once again, Æbald heaved a sigh.

"Oh yes. Once your mother died, Tristan left the kingdom to travel, consumed by grief. However, he didn't get far. Word reached him about Uther burning our home, killing Lara and our father. This drove him to the point of madness. I think losing Lara was like losing mother all over again as she had died giving birth to Lara and, as you've seen, Lara looks almost exactly like her," Æbald explained.

"So he killed himself? " Arthur said.

"Goodness no. That's the coward's way out and Tristan wasn't a coward by any means. Tristan went back to Camelot and challenged Uther to a duel to the death. Uther killed him." Arthur stood there in horror as Æbald told his story. "You've actually met Tristan recently."

"How? How can I meet a dead person? "

"Look at Tristan's shield." Arthur looked and saw a white bird emblazoned on a black shield. His mind wound back to a scene in Camelot. A man crashing through a window on a black horse, wearing a scared helmet and carrying a sword and shield, exactly like the one he was looking at now.

"The Black Knight was my uncle! How on earth did he come back to life? "

"Nimueh's twisted mind and her skill with necromancy," Lybra said, her snout wrinkling in disgust. The prince turned towards the other tunnels.

"Where do those go? " he asked.

"They lead to more caves, telling the events of our family's lives. Our mother used magic to make these ca... Arthur where are you going? " Arthur was pacing towards the tunnel with his mother's picture. He wanted only one thing, forgetting everything else. Questions were buzzing in his head, ones no one, not even his father or Gaius, had answered. What had his mother been like? What had childhood been like?

"Arthur, don't!" Æbald shouted, going after Arthur but was stopped by Lybra.

"Why can't he see what his mother's life was like? He never knew her," she argued.

"It's not that," Æbald muttered, skirting around the small dragon. He sprinted down the tunnel into yet another cave. On the walls were many more pictures centring around Igraine Pendragon. One showed her having a swordfight with the dark haired Tristan, a look of indignation on her face, and another showed her and Uther on her wedding day. Æbald spotted Arthur standing stock still in front of a series of pictures showing Nimueh give Igraine a silver chalice and another with Igraine in great pain with a panicky looking Lara at her side.

"I shouldn't exist," Arthur croaked. "I was created by magic and it killed my mother."

"Yet without you, Camelot would fall as would everything else," said Æbald. "What Nimueh didn't tell your parents is that it was likely that your mother's life would be sacrificed for yours. It's possible that Nimueh thought Igraine would be strong enough but the Old Religion chose her as the sacrifice and before anyone saw that, she was dead."

"So magic is responsible for my mother's death? "

"In a way yes, I suppose. But your mother's death was not the work of an evil plot, it was an unimaginable tragedy."

"Why was I conceived magically? Why did my parents even need magical help to have a child? "

"Igraine had an accident, just after she and Uther married. An assassination attempt. Lara and Gaius saved her but she couldn't conceive naturally." Lybra then snorted impatiently.

"Æbald, earlier on you were going on about Camelot being destroyed and now you're giving Arthur a historic update. I don't mean to sound so heartless but don't you think we should find Nimueh? "

"Alright, Lybra," Æbald said, bobbing his head in amusement at her impatience.

The dragon nudged Arthur's leg with her nose, eyes crinkling with sympathy.

"I know how you feel. Uther killed my sire and mother and I never knew them properly as I was still in my egg. But don't think any differently of him Arthur. It may seem odd coming from me, you may think I'd hate him, but your father's done a good job of taking care of the kingdom, putting aside his personal vendetta against magic and those who use it or have helped sorcerers. At the end, you need to remember that he loves you and the kingdom. Guilt makes you do odd things." Arthur bent down and scratched behind her ear. She leant into his hand and purred appreciatively. Arthur didn't know why but he felt close to Lybra as if he had known her for years.

The three trudged back to the cave which split off into the five tunnels and they faced the one with Nimueh's painting by its side.

"Down there," Æbald murmured. Immediately, as if in a great hurry, Lybra flew towards the mouth of the tunnel.

"Wait, Lybra!" the knight shouted, only just managing to snatch her out of the air.

"What? " Lybra moaned indignantly. Æbald didn't answer, walking cautiously over to the tunnel and stretched out his hand. There was a crackling sound and the knight hissed sharply, withdrawing his hand.

"That isn't good," he groaned.

"What the hell is that? " Arthur asked.

"It's a spell," Æbald sniffed in irritation. "It repels magic and magical beings or people who can use magic." Lybra cursed, snorting a thick plume of smoke out of her nose. "Which definitely means that only you, Arthur, can pass through and go down the tunnel." He returned Arthur's sword to him which Arthur took and sheathed quickly.

"Aren't there just paintings down there? " Arthur said, but he somehow knew that that wasn't true.

"Not anymore. It looks like Nimueh has turned her cave into a lair."

"Haven't you ever tried to get down? You said you visit this place about... twice a year," Lybra said, a hint of worry in her voice. Arthur wondered at it. Why was she so desperate to find Nimueh?

"No, I haven't. I told you I couldn't let her know I was alive and I only ever visited Lara and Igraine's caves."

"How can you actually tell that it is her magic? " Lybra asked.

"Why else would someone block off her tunnel? And there's a sort of trace left behind and its most certainly hers, I'd recognize it anywhere," Æbald pointed out.

"I'm not even going to ask," Lybra murmured, rolling her eyes. Arthur was staring at the tunnel.

"Well there's nothing for it," he whispered, more to himself than the others. He stepped through the magical barrier and walked away.


	14. Chapter 14

**Sorry about the huge length of time between updates – I've been away recently, had problems with my computer etc. etc. but hopefully should be able to get back on track now. And thanks for the reviews, please keep them coming!**

Chapter 13- Duel

The darkness was practically impenetrable. Arthur stumbled along the tunnel with one hand sliding on the wall. This tunnel must have been miles longer than the other. He felt like he had been walking for hours, his legs feeling like the contents of sour milk: slushy and all over the place.

A dull, throbbing blue glow suddenly interrupted the blackness. This only made Arthur's stomach contract horribly. Drawing his sword, he shook off the feeling in his legs and crept forwards.

A gigantic cave lay before him; stalactites and stalagmites poking out of the floor and ceiling, all different sizes, some small and others unbelievably large.

Even more cautiously than before, Arthur darted further into the cave, flitting stealthily between the rocks. As he progressed he didn't find Morgana or Merlin, not even Nimueh. Arthur shuddered slightly whenever he thought of her name. He still couldn't believe he was related to someone that had tried to kill him.

He was soon thinking about heading back to Æbald and Lybra as there was no sign of either of his friends but it was then that he caught sight of a person, pale as a sheet, lying on a raised stone bed. There was no mistaking the long, deep brown hair.

"Oh no, no, no," he breathed, running to the stiff body. "Morgana, can you hear me?" He gingerly shook her by the shoulders. "Come on Morgana, wake up."

A cackling laugh suddenly echoed around him and Arthur spun around to see Nimueh leaning against a particularly large stalagmite, almost lazily.

"Nimueh," Arthur hissed.

At this, the sorceress' smile widened although her eyes were glowing with menace.

"I didn't think it was possible for you to find these caves Arthur. No one without magic can. I'd like to know how you did," she said, a look of interest playing across her features.

Silence followed as if she was waiting for him to answer, which he didn't.

"So you finally discovered the truth about your family and how you were born. You must be very angry with your father for keeping something that important from you for all these years."

Arthur, yet again, didn't rise to her words. Inside him however was a different story. Was he angry with his father? His father had, admittedly unknowingly, traded the life of his wife for a son, and his reaction was to try and eradicate a society to which Igraine had belonged. Arthur wasn't sure about his feelings at that moment. But what he did know was that now was not the time to think about this.

"Where's Merlin? What have you done to Morgana?" he snarled, breathing sharply through his nose.

"Come now, don't you want a nice family chat before all hell breaks loose?" Nimueh said, pulling a playful pout.

"You weren't this sarcastic last time we met. You just left me in that cave to be eaten by spiders," Arthur retorted.

"I won't make the mistake of leaving you to die on your own again."

"I thought you said 'it wasn't my destiny to die at your hand'."

"Yes I did say that but I've changed since then, ever since your manservant killed me. That's also why I've become slightly more joyous towards life when I came back. I don't believe that you are ruled by your destiny, only that you rule it."

"So you are willing to kill a member of your own family, like how you used your dead brother as a puppet instead of letting him rest in peace," Arthur growled.

"You barely count. Your life was shaped by a monster and you let him fill your head with lies and hate towards your mother's people," Nimueh replied, quite calmly considering that her cheeks were beginning to flush and her eyes were filling with a mad craze.

"You're mad! You're no better yourself. Hate has changed your perspective on things, causing you to kill almost as many my people as my father killed yours," he snapped back.

"My, my. Look who's grown wise. About a year ago you were an arrogant prat, then Merlin comes along and you get an in-depth knowledge on life."

Arthur gulped at this statement. He had thought about that many times. Merlin had turned his life upside-down, making him see things in a different light.

"If you hurt them..."

"That's exactly what Merlin said whilst... well, you'll find out in a minute," Nimueh said, once again sneering.

"What... have... you... done?" Arthur snarled, hands clenching in a claw-like fashion.

"Hmm. Impatience still seems to be one of your flaws, as it is with most humans. Very well, I think it's time for a little game," she mused. She then snapped her fingers.

Slow and careful footsteps started to ring around the cave. Nimueh stepped backwards and Arthur's gaze circled around as he tightened his grip on his sword.

A tall man was coming towards him, dressed in thick, padded black leather, a broad sword clutched in his gloved hands, the chainmail clinking ominously. The man's head was covered in a helmet shined to perfection. For a split second, Arthur stared at the man, breathing heavily, trying to calm his jangling nerves. Then without warning, the man gave a bellow and charged at Arthur, his sword swinging at the prince's head. Arthur only just tucked his sword between the other and his head, pushing the blade away. He stepped away from the man to gain ground, eyes fixed on his opponent. How many times had he faced situations like this, Arthur thought to himself. This wasn't one of those tournaments where the contestants only got broken bones which were usually the worst case scenario. This was definitely not like fighting with Merlin. It was like with Kanan in Ealdor, and with Knight Valiant: their only aim was to kill.

Arthur suddenly lost his footing on a long something and he fell onto his backside, hard. Underneath his feet were long chains, trailing from a large rock. His eyes caught sight of a red cloth lying at the foot of the rock. Arthur hastily picked it up as the man came at him with his sword again and rolled away. He stared at the rag. It was a horribly familiar neckerchief and on it were a few droplets of blood.

"_No!_" Arthur thought, once again feeling his stomach drop. "_Merlin!_"

Before he could think anything else, the helmeted figure lunged at him yet again, distracting Arthur completely. Dropping the neckerchief, he engaged the person in combat once more.

A fury now reigned inside the prince as he beat at his opponent's weapon. These two had hurt his friends without cause and that made Arthur's blood boil. If there was a chance of defeating these two psychotic villains and saving Merlin and Morgana, if they were still alive, he'd take it after making Nimueh suffer for all the hurt she had caused.

However, the other man seemed to suffer from a frenzy so they were equally matched. Arthur had never met this man's type anywhere. At times, it seemed that Arthur had the upper hand but then the man would perform a move that would cause Arthur to stumble. It was the same vice versa.

"_This is ridiculous. If this keeps going on, I'll tire out. Nimueh's most likely enchanted his skills and how fast he becomes tired, unless he's a sorcerer himself_."

Then without meaning to, Arthur reached out with a free hand and hooked a finger through the eye socket in the man's helmet and pulled. Arthur stared as a ruffled, dark head looked at the floor but then it started to move upwards. The prince was able to take in the pale face, the prominent cheekbones and the dark eyes that were entirely black. Apart from the eyes, the features of the man were terribly recognisable.

"Merlin?"

Nimueh had been watching the duel from next to where Morgana lay and now she laughed in a cold manner as Arthur goggled at his friend. What happened next shocked Arthur to his very core. Merlin raised his hand and sneered in the most un-Merlin-like way imaginable. Arthur felt himself fly backwards into the cave wall. Horror filled his mind. Merlin had used magic! But that was impossible! Arthur scrambled back to his feet, sword at his side.

"Merlin, snap out of it. She's controlling you," he cried but Merlin just continued to sneer. "You're stronger than this Merlin. She's going to kill everyone and she'll make you kill too!"

It seemed that Merlin was incapable of speech. He continued to smile wickedly at Arthur then looked to his right.

Arthur followed his line of sight and his teeth clenched together. A boulder was rising from the floor of its own accord. Nimueh's laughter was even more raucous as she watched Merlin with vindictive pleasure. Merlin's sneer widened and the boulder went hurtling at Arthur. The prince swiped at the rock knocking it out of the air but bending the sword beyond repair. Before Arthur could act, another rock was magically thrown at him and he was hurled back against the wall once more.

Regaining his breath, Arthur watched as Merlin stood over him, sword poised. Nimueh sighed with pleasure.

"Kill him," she commanded with relish. Arthur felt as if his Adam's apple was swollen. "Make sure you do it slowly."

Merlin bent down to the floor and drove his sword into the ground. He then began to reach for Arthur's throat. Arthur looked into the now emotionless black eyes, mind working rapidly but he came up with no means of escape without hurting Merlin. This was definitely the end now and Arthur had never thought that he would be killed by his friend... his best friend.

"You're going to kill me Merlin, I know. But if you're still in there think. Think about all those people you could kill after you do this. Morgana and Gaius," he whispered. Merlin's hand was almost at his throat. "What about Gwen?"

Something then happened that Arthur wasn't expecting. He had resigned himself to the fact that Merlin was unable to fight Nimueh's magic and was forever doomed to be her slave. Now however, Merlin was kneeling in front of him, his hand hovering in the space between them and his eyes were wide with horror. Then, like clouds racing away from the sun, Merlin's eyes transformed from the black sockets to their familiar stormy blue, clearly defined from the white areas and the pupils. Nimueh had noticed his hesitation.

"What are you waiting for? Do it now," she hissed.

Merlin closed his eyes and sighed. He wrenched the sword out of the ground and for a second Arthur thought he was going to run him through but Merlin stood up and turned to Nimueh.

The sorceress moved away from Morgana, frowning in surprise. Unnoticed by the prince, Merlin's eyes were blazing an intense gold, full of fury.

"Get out of my head," he shouted.

Unexpectedly, Merlin then hurled the sword at Nimueh but the sorceress appeared to be melting into thin air. The weapon flew towards a boulder, sinking deep into the stone. Breathing heavily, Merlin sank to his knees and his head bent back heavenwards, mouth opening wide. As he exhaled a grey mist came steaming out of his mouth, nose, ears and eyes, evaporating quickly. Arthur looked on as Merlin's already incredibly pale face went impossibly so, shining in the eerie gloom of the cave like a ghost. When he had finished, Merlin fell forward and leant on the floor.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 14- Wounds in different places

For a few minutes there was a silence between the two, their sharp breathing echoing around the cave. Merlin was still kneeling on the floor and Arthur was leaning against the cave wall. Soon however, Arthur pushed himself up and walked over to his friend.

"Merlin?"

Merlin didn't look up from the floor so Arthur put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. Only then did Merlin say anything.

"I'm so sorry Arthur," he murmured.

"What are you talking about?" Arthur scolded, shoving Merlin gently. "It's not your fault. You were being controlled by a mad sorceress. You didn't know what you were doing. Hell, it looked like you weren't in there at all. It's just lucky that you managed to fight her magic and you won."

Merlin finally sat back and stood to face Arthur, a severe and pained expression on his face.

"It is my fault. I let her control me and I was going to kill me. Then I may have killed everyone else," he said, his eyes burning with apology. He closed them, furrowing his brow. "She made me use magic, didn't she?" Arthur paused for a moment. He hadn't thought that Merlin would know that he had used sorcery.

"Yes she did, but I bet that was her channelling her magic through you," he said.

"Yeah, maybe..." Merlin sighed. Then to Arthur's surprise, Merlin grabbed his arm. "Morgana!"

The prince felt a ripple of horror flow through him as he and Merlin ran towards where Morgana lay on her altar of stone. "How are we going to wake her up?" Merlin asked, trying to use his torso to lean Morgana's body against him.

"That's if she's even alive," Arthur groaned, inwardly praying that his fears weren't correct, taking the king's ward off Merlin and lying her back down.

"She is. Nimueh said something about enchanted sleep."

"Never heard of anything like that," Arthur said, frowning.

Merlin grabbed at his hair in frustration. Arthur raised his eyebrows as Merlin muttered to himself and he wondered if Merlin had lost it slightly because of what Nimueh had done to him. Then, as the warlock looked from Arthur to Morgana, it clicked.

"Arthur, have you ever heard of the fairy tale about the princess that slept for a hundred years?" Merlin asked, eyes bright. Arthur snorted at this.

"Fairy tale? Are you sure that this wasn't just an incredibly lazy person"

"I take it you haven't then."

"Do you really think my father would have let me listen to children's bedtime stories?" Arthur was giving his servant an incredulous look.

"Anyway, the princess was cursed by a witch and she was asleep for a hundred years until someone gave her true love's first kiss." He looked at Arthur intently but Arthur didn't take the hint.

"Well no wonder my father didn't let my nurse tell me these things. They're about magic."

"Lord, Arthur. You are without a doubt the world's biggest prat," Merlin said, rolling his eyes. He then looked pointedly at Morgana. Arthur finally understood.

"No. You have got to be kidding!" he shouted louder than was necessary.

"Well who else? You've known her for ages; you've been through a lot together; and didn't she kiss you before the tournament started?" Merlin countered.

"I don't think of her like that."

"Don't you?" Merlin said, knowingly. "Unless you don't want to get out of here, just do it quickly." Arthur opened and closed his mouth a few times and turned brick red.

"If you tell anyone I'll... I'll..." he growled.

"If I tell anyone I'd have the wrath of Morgana descending on me, as well as yours," Merlin replied impatiently. "Do you really think I would? Just do it quickly and she may forgive you, if it even works."

With that, Arthur leant over Morgana and breathed a heavy sigh. He stroked her long mahogany hair away from her forehead and inched forwards until he felt her ice cold lips come into contact with his own.

Unexpectedly, he felt a rush of fire erupt inside of him and his whole body seemed to relax. In the next second, Morgana's eyes had fluttered open and when Arthur had withdrawn, gulping, to his astonishment, Morgana had wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his head back down to hers. Arthur thought this was like an out-of-body experience and the most pleasant thing that could have ever happened. He couldn't get his head around the fact that he was kissing Morgana.

There was a rumbling noise and they all felt an earthquake beneath their feet. Stalactites started to fall from the ceiling, shattering into large chunks, narrowly missing the three of them.

"RUN!" Arthur bellowed, pulling Morgana to her feet and breaking into a sprint, skirting around the lumps of descending rock.

"Which way?" Merlin shouted, hot on their heels.

Arthur tumbled towards the tunnel, head twitching in all directions to see what the safest route to the tunnel entrance was. He then felt someone jump on him, forcing him to the floor. A sudden heat exploded over his head and he turned to see Merlin practically lying on top of him and Morgana.

"This whole cave is over a lava pit!" Merlin shouted. He was right.

Enormous crevices were cracking open in the floor and a vibrant orange liquid was spewing through the cracks, filling the cave with an alarming red light.

"Get up, Merlin," Arthur commanded, shoving himself off the floor.

"Who on earth would want to live on top of a lava pit?" Morgana cried as they started towards the tunnel again, dodging occasional jets of fire that shot out of the walls.

"Someone who could stop it from going sky high and if they needed somewhere to hide," Arthur shouted back.

Lava was now speeding across the floor, gaining on the trio as they reached the mouth of the tunnel. They ran at break-neck speed, feeling the heat bear down on them. The gurgling noise of the lava filled their ears, spurring their efforts to run as impending death snapped at them.

The tunnel was as long as Arthur remembered and he thought it a miracle that they reached the other end. As they sped into the cave with the pictures of the five siblings they almost collided into Æbald and Lybra.

"Nimueh's blocked off the exit," Æbald said, voice strained with panic.

Meanwhile, as to not show that they knew each other, Merlin and Lybra were reuniting with their minds.

"_Oh thank God_," Lybra exclaimed. "_You're alright._"

"_Are you alright? Did she do anything else to you?_" Merlin thought, feeling relieved.

"_Never do anything like that again Merlin. You've had me worried sick and I'm almost certain that Gaius has been feeling the same_."

"_At least Nimueh didn't kill you or anything_."

"_It would have killed me if you had died yourself, idiot_."

Something Morgana then said brought them back to earth.

"That's a dragon!" she exclaimed, intrigued, pointing at Lybra.

"Watch out!" Æbald roared as a ravine of lava raced into the cave.

Arthur dragged Morgana onto a boulder and Merlin clambered onto another one with Æbald whilst Lybra took to the air.

"What are we going to do?" Morgana cried, looking warily at the lava.

Merlin's head was buzzing frantically. There was only one way for them to survive this. He could see the answer in his scrambled mind as clear as day. Before acting, he ran it by Lybra.

"_There's no other way_," he said.

"_No there isn't_," the dragon replied. "_Arthur was going to find out about your magic eventually_."

"_He may not trust me after this_," Merlin concluded. He then relaxed his tense body, mind racing as he tried to control the sudden thrill of magic.

Meanwhile, the boiling pool of magma was rising ominously, hissing as it lapped away at the walls and rocks, the heat rising in an intense wave. Merlin, Arthur and Morgana were covered in sweat, hair damp and faces red.

Merlin felt like he couldn't put it off anymore and he sighed, looking at his two friends. As if they felt his gaze, the two turned their heads to face the warlock.

"I'm sorry," Merlin called in a monotone.

"What for?" Arthur asked as Morgana frowned.

Merlin didn't reply but closed his eyes and raised his right hand over the burning substance.

"Merlin?" Morgana said, stepping once on the boulder away from Arthur, concerned for her friend's sanity.

The warlock's eyes snapped open again, his expression unfathomable. Both Arthur and Morgana did a double-take as they looked at Merlin. The usual blue eyes were not there anymore. Instead they were an intense burgundy gold, burning brightly not too unlike the magma beneath their feet, but only for a second before the familiar eyes reappeared.

"Look, Arthur," Morgana whispered audibly.

Looking, Arthur saw that the lava underneath Merlin's outstretched arm seemed to be forming a minor whirlpool. Then Merlin knelt, teetering on the edge of the rock, and drew his hand back into a fist. He then brought his fist down, engulfing it in the rising lava. Instead of burning the warlock's hand, the lava retreated, hastening away from the young man.

Arthur was struck dumb. Merlin was a sorcerer. An incredibly powerful one at that. No, it wasn't just that. Merlin was magic, he didn't just control it, and it was clearly a part of who he was. His eyes that had been consumed by the golden fire stared at the lava but only absent-mindedly, as if Merlin thought it wasn't really there. The raw power that emanated from him was so intense that Arthur could not comprehend how blind he must have been to not have seen this.

By this time the magma had formed a dome over their heads, the gurgling noise now sounding like a drowning person.

"Get out of here," Merlin shouted, teeth bared as he glared at the fiery liquid.

Nobody moved apart from Lybra, who flapped closer to Merlin. His eyes briefly bored into hers and a moment of silent understanding passed between them.

"But what-" Morgana started to say but Merlin cut across her.

"Nimueh's magic is fighting mine. Go or we'll all die."

Æbald, who had been mute throughout the drama, leapt off the boulder on which he and Merlin stood and dashed to Morgana and Arthur, the latter of whom was still staring at the warlock, his face pale.

"My lady," Æbald said, pulling Morgana gently off the rock. "Arthur, come on."

Arthur didn't reply but continued to stare at Merlin. Lybra flew up to him and shoved him in the small of the back with her nose.

"Come on day-dream, this is no time to dawdle," she growled. "Merlin... knows what he's doing." She seemed to lose her vigour as she looked at her master.

"GO!" Merlin roared, a definite crease forming on his forehead.

They paused but Æbald pulled the two by the arm and they ran whilst the heart-broken dragon beat her wings in a flurry beside them. All of a sudden, the impregnable heat of the lava was right behind them. The three humans increased their efforts and soon they flung themselves out of the entrance, landing face-down on the grass. After a few seconds and the realisation that they were not being scolded, they twisted around to look at the entrance. It had closed, leaving only the smooth face of rock.

Lybra cried out a guttural howl to the night. Arthur and Morgana stared at the rock in complete shock whilst Æbald jumped to his feet and kicked it, cursing loudly.

"No! No! Damn it Nimueh, you've condemned us all you evil, twisted..." he trailed off, words failing him in his anger. He lashed out at the rock again, seething.

"Merlin... Merlin was a... sorcerer," Arthur said bleakly, his arms shaking violently as they supported his body. "He could use magic."

"No, he wasn't a sorcerer," Æbald sighed, all anger apparently leaving him.

"Then how do you explain him using magic then?" Arthur said, scowling.

Æbald sighed again.

"What I mean is, he wasn't exactly a sorcerer, he was a warlock."

"What's a warlock?" Arthur asked, confused.

"Someone like me," a small voice said behind them.

Every one of them spun around in disbelief. Standing there was a slightly dishevelled Merlin. Lybra and Morgana both shrieked and ran, or in Lybra's case flew, at him. Morgana almost bowled him over as she hugged him, crying with happiness. Lybra drifted to the ground and rubbed her bulk against Merlin's leg, arching her back like a cat.

Arthur just stared at Merlin and Merlin pushed Morgana away and they and Lybra turned to him.

"Arthur?" Merlin said warily.

At this Arthur strode up to him until he was only a few steps away. Then Arthur grabbed Merlin by the shoulders and shook him hard.

"Arthur!" Morgana shouted and the dragon growled threateningly. But they were ignored.

"You _idiot_!" Arthur said, still shaking Merlin. "How long have you been learning magic? Why on earth did you come to Camelot in the first place? Does Gaius know about this? Don't you know what my father would do to you if he knew? Why did you want to learn magic in the first place? Is that why you were taken by Nimueh?"

"Pendragon, control yourself," Lybra snarled, snorting a small plume of fire out of her nose. Arthur let Merlin go but continued to glare at him.

"Well?" he snapped. "Why did you even learn sorcery?"

Merlin looked at the ground.

"I didn't learn sorcery."

"Sorry?" Arthur's eyebrows knitted together.

"I had magic ever since I was born," Merlin explained. "I can't help being what I am just as you can't help being a prince."

"Why did you come to Camelot?" Arthur asked. "Are you trying to destabilise the kingdom?"

"You're being a bit repetitive Arthur," Lybra said, slightly briskly. "And mind who you're accusing about destroying Camelot. He's not Nimueh."

"_Lybra be quiet_," Merlin told her. He then answered Arthur. "No, I'm here to make sure you _aren't_ killed."

Arthur just gaped at him and Morgana decided to intervene.

"Could you explain please, Merlin," she said kindly, draping an arm around Arthur's waist.

The two looked at her, both shocked and confused by her reaction to the fact that Merlin could use magic.

"Oh for heaven's sake Arthur. It's not his fault if he was born with magic. He's still our friend no matter if he could control the weather or something like that."

Merlin then took a deep breath.

"I used magic at the feast with Lady Helen and I dropped the chandelier on her and when she threw that knife at you; when you and Valiant were fighting I made the snakes come out of the shield; with the Afanc I caused the wind that helped you kill it; there was that light I created to lead you out of the cave-"

"That was you?" Arthur interrupted. "But you were unconscious! You were dying!"

"I don't know exactly how I did it, I just did. Gaius told me that I was saying things while I was in a coma."

There was a silence but it was not as awkward as might have been expected.

"Carry on Merlin," Arthur grunted.

The warlock then continued to tell them about how he had enchanted Lancelot's lance when he had killed the griffin; how he had saved Gaius and killed Edwin then saved Uther; how he had saved Arthur from the bandit when Aulfric and Sophia with the branch. He had then explained about having to kill the two victims when they had run off with Arthur, before the other two interrupted.

"You killed them. Why? They weren't going to kill me or anything," Arthur yelped.

"Err, Arthur they were," Merlin gulped. "They were members of a race called the Sidhe from Avalon, the land of eternal youth."

"Hang on a second," Arthur said, a hint of accusation in his voice. "You caused that wind in Ealdor. It wasn't Will at all, it was you."

"Yeah, it was," Merlin mumbled, suddenly sad at the mention of his friend.

Morgana glared at Arthur for his casual tone when mentioning Will.

"Anyway, Sophia and Aulfric had been banished from Avalon when Aulfric had killed another Sidhe so in exchange for re-entry they needed the soul of a prince."

Merlin then told them about the telepathic link he had shared with the druid boy and how he had used magic to get the keys for Morgana to escape with him; how he had asked the Great Dragon to burnish the sword for Arthur to defeat the Black Knight, only Uther had used it instead; and finally how he had killed the Questing Beast and gone to the isle of the Blessed to barter his life for Arthur's.

"You'd really do that for me? But how come you aren't dead?"

"I... my mother's life was exchanged for Arthur's instead of mine so I went back to sort things out only Gaius got there before me and Nimueh took his life. We fought and I killed her. Gaius was alright though because the balance of the world had been restored,"

Merlin concluded looking from Arthur to Morgana.

"I swear I'd rather die than use my magic for evil. I'm not proud of killing all of those people but I had to make sure you didn't get killed."

Lybra suddenly let out a low hiss, staring at the trees surrounding them.

"What is it Lybra?" Æbald growled.

The others had almost forgotten he was there. The small dragon sniffed the air.

"Several creatures. They smell of earth and mud and other natural stuff but it doesn't stink. They're not human but they're the size of fully grown men. I swear it smells like they are heavily armed." Æbald swore, whistling shrilly so that the horses would approach, whilst drawing his sword.

"Drows," he said, ferocity in his voice.

"What?" Arthur asked, glaring at the surrounding trees.

"You've never heard of the Drow tribes before?" Æbald mused. "That's something. Uther had a lot of trouble with them during the Great Purge- they didn't go quietly. They had this feud with their cousins, the High Elves, and when Uther tried to destroy them they disappeared into the mountains but not until after swearing their return. At least, that's what I heard. It's not good if you get on the wrong side of one them, they're very good warriors, even the women."

He flipped his saddlebag open, which was strapped to his palomino horse, and drew out three swords and threw one each to the young adults.

"Why on earth have you got these?" Arthur asked, staring at his blade.

"Trust me, there are times when having a few extra weapons can come in handy," Æbald explained. "Are you alright fighting in that dress Morgana?"

"It should be fine," Morgana replied passively.

Lybra suddenly let out an echoing roar.

"Here they come."

A rustling noise came from the trees, easily mistaken for wind, except there was none; twinkling eyes blinking into existence. Merlin edged forward so that he was standing in front of Morgana and next to Arthur. Arthur turned his head towards him and Merlin gave him one of his biggest grins. The prince returned it.

"_Morgana's right. The idiot's still the same person even if he can do magic_," he thought.

Æbald stepped to the side, staring at the eyes. The dragon stretched her wings and shot into the air like an arrow.

A mass of pale skin and black and dark purple shot out of the shadows and ran at them, brandishing a thin sword that looked as if it could easily pass through a gap between a pair of ribs. It was only a few feet away when Arthur struck; swinging the sword at the Drow with all his might, the creature crashed to the floor with the sword sticking out of its stomach. None of them could help noticing how human and beautiful it looked apart from the long, pointed ears, and Arthur retrieved his sword feeling slightly spooked.

This seemed to aggravate the other Drows to such a degree that, with blood curdling bellows unbefitting of such beings; they leapt out at the group. Two were burnt to cinders as Lybra exhaled a jet of flames before they got anywhere near the humans. Three went for Arthur who chopped one down due to the Drow's apparent over-confidence and grappled with the other two until Æbald caught one of them unaware and it directed its concentration on him, giving Arthur the chance to kill the other. The final three tried to take down Morgana and Merlin, one going for the former and two for the latter. It appeared that the Drow that was advancing on Morgana underestimated her swordsmanship so that within a minute she had emerged victorious. Merlin had killed one with a small piece of magic and was trying to defeat the last Drow until he killed it completely by accident when he blocked a blow to the head and the sword slipped underneath the other and stabbed the Drow. They watched as Æbald wrestled with the remaining Drow until he landed a mortal blow and the creature fell the floor, breathing shallowly as his life dripped out of him. Æbald knelt down and grabbed it by the front.

"Who sent you? Why did you and your fellows attack us?"

The Drow just sneered at him and laughed.

"What does it matter? We are but a test, trainees compared to what is coming. We offered our lives as the test willingly," the Drow replied in a lilting voice.

"What test? What is coming?" Æbald snarled, shaking the dying Drow. It looked straight at Merlin and everyone else looked at him as well.

"That is for you to find out. But you may as well know this, warlock," the Drow spat, directly addressing Merlin now. "You should have joined us; those who have lived in fear and craved vengeance for so long, for you are hunted as much as we are. Camelot's time has come to an end and one of you will almost certainly die very soon. It will begin before the sun rises."

The Drow then breathed a death rattle and went limp in the knight's hands.

"Damn, blinkin', cryptic Drow," Æbald swore, shoving the corpse away from him. "About as much help as a drunk Satyr, if not worse."

Arthur had gone over to Morgana and hugged her, dropping his sword. Morgana's mouth found his and they were kissing again, a deep and prolonged passion.

"You... were... fantastic," Arthur whispered in pattern with his breathing.

"I... only... killed... one," she replied.

"You... were still... fantastic."

Morgana smiled blissfully and carried on kissing him hungrily. Merlin rolled his eyes and turned away from the embarrassing scene, looking at Æbald. The knight was still crouching in front of the dead Drow.

"What do you think he meant? One of us is going to die?" Merlin asked.

"I don't know, Merlin. I really don't know."

"Was this Drow a man or a woman?"

"It looks like a woman. You can see the ears, they have only one edge. A man's would have two," Æbald explained, motioning at the dead female. "Drow females are expected to fight as well as the men."

The warlock suddenly stiffened as he saw movement in the trees out of the corner of his eye and Lybra growled once more. As the others span around, a skinny entity dressed in pure black stepped out into the dim light that signified the approach of dawn. It drew something from its belt - a dagger. The Drow then threw it with tremendous force... at Arthur.

Arthur pushed Morgana away from the danger and, before he could even think of moving himself, time seemed to slow to a crawl and a dark blur suddenly crossed his vision. In another second, time resumed its normal pace and the knife continued to spin and hit something with a loud thud.

"NO!" Arthur cried as Lybra howled in agony.

Merlin slid to the ground, panting and clutching at the dagger in his side. Arthur dropped down and supported him.

"Merlin, you complete idiot!" Arthur hissed.

"Sor...ry," the warlock groaned, his face starting to sweat.

"Arthur, get it out of him," Æbald shouted shrilly. The others realised that this was the first time any of them had heard him scared; he was quite severe for most of the time.

Arthur grabbed the hilt of the knife and pulled quickly. Merlin's teeth ground together in a grimace and he shook violently. Æbald took the dagger and inspected it whilst Lybra and Morgana went to Merlin's side. The wound was letting loose a small stream of blood, staining the black leather top with crimson. Lybra sniffed tearfully.

"Hang on, where's that Drow? I'm going to kill it," Arthur burst out but became distracted when Merlin flinched at his loud voice and clutched at his ears.

"There's no need, I've taken care of that filth," Lybra bristled and Arthur spotted the pile of ashes near the trees.

Then to Morgana and Arthur's shock, the dragon tore at the material surrounding the wound. She then closed her eyes and gently touched the torn flesh with her nose.

"Lybra," Æbald said, warning in his voice. She ignored him.

A flash of light filled the area and Lybra was thrown backwards and Merlin jerked once more, his panting becoming increasingly laboured.

"He's been poisoned," Æbald groaned. "We need to get him to Gaius or there's no hope for him."

Arthur gently gathered Merlin up in his arms and, with some difficulty, clambered onto his horse. Morgana and Æbald climbed onto the palomino, Morgana keeping her eyes on Merlin. Lybra hovered over the two men.

"Ar... thur," Merlin mumbled hoarsely, his blue eyes glazed over with pain.

"Ssshh," Arthur said shakily, applying pressure to the wound. "Talking isn't going to help."

Behind the trees, the sun was now creeping over the mountains, bright and welcoming; seemingly unaware of the bloodshed that had occurred and that which was yet to come.


	16. Chapter 16

**So sorry this update has taken forever – we moved house recently and lost internet for a while, and things have been really busy... Hope you like this chapter!**

Chapter 15- Healing and dying

Gwen stood at her mistress' window, watching as the sun once more peaked over the distant hills and mountains, spreading its warm glow over the many trees and mountains and people. Today was day four. Four days since she had last seen any of her friends. She had stood there at the window as the sun rose and sank in the sky, only leaving briefly to eat and sleep. All the while she cradled the small dragon that she had given Merlin in her hands. This eased her anxiety if only slightly.

As she stood there, gazing at the glorious landscape, Gwen wondered, not for the first time, where on earth Arthur, Merlin and Morgana were. The other search parties had returned the previous day and had found no trace of the sorceress or her captives. Gaius had taken to skulking in his chambers and Uther had been seen to be pacing the hall. Gwen was beginning to think that the worst may have happened.

"Come on Arthur, where are you?" she whispered to the room at large.

"Why are we stopping?" Morgana asked, turning in the saddle as Æbald slipped off and walked over to Arthur and Merlin.

"If we don't give him something to slow the poison, he won't make it," the knight explained. He then turned to Lybra. "Do you know what mandrake and anise look like?"

"Yes, Gaius sometimes uses them with medicine."

"Could you go and get some, please. There's a stream over there. The mandrake is near the bank but you'll have to dig about in some thickets for the anise because they only grow in dry conditions."

Lybra flew off to gather the ingredients and Arthur and Æbald lowered the warlock to the ground. Merlin grimaced and let out a small groan of pain. When Merlin was on the ground, Arthur laid the man's head on his lap.

"Morgana in the black saddlebag there's a water-skin and cloth. Pass them over please," Æbald said, whilst moving Merlin's hair away from his hair.

Once she had fetched the items, Morgana knelt next to Arthur and held Merlin's hand.

"Does he have a fever?" Arthur asked, his hands reaching out to apply pressure to the bleeding wound once more.

"It's getting close to it," Æbald replied. The knight unstoppered the water-skin and wet the cloth. He then pressed it lightly on the warlock's brow and droplets of water slid away, creating trails on his face.

"I've got them," a voice called from the air.

The dragon flopped back to the earth and placed a grotesque purple object and some pale green sticks of what looked like ears of corn, apart from the green colour, in front of the knight.

"Keep talking to him," Æbald suggested moving to tend to Merlin's injury and patting Arthur's hand away. "He mustn't go to sleep. Merlin, chew this."

He pushed the green pieces of anise into Merlin's mouth and Merlin chewed and swallowed them quickly, shivering in disgust at the taste.

"You really aren't trying to destroy Camelot," Arthur said to Merlin. Behind his back Morgana rolled her eyes. "You are trying to protect us."

"Well duh Arthur," Lybra muttered. "How long has that been obvious?"

Merlin managed a weak smile and tried to speak.

"Can't... let... you... die," he whispered.

"Don't talk Merlin," Morgana hushed him, taking up the cloth that Æbald had left on his forehead and applying more water.

Merlin coughed painfully and Lybra licked his face sympathetically, eyeing him sadly.

"Wait a second," Arthur said, suddenly realising something. "Lybra, the person you said you love and had gone missing... were you talking about Merlin?"

Lybra actually smiled.

"Yes I was," she replied. "Merlin is my keeper and he found my egg in the Hollow Nest."

"Merlin!" Arthur scolded. "With you getting involved in everything and then getting into trouble, you'll end up being killed. You almost always need me to get you out of some mess."

Merlin sniggered.

"Filthy... hypocrite," he teased, the effort of speaking costing him vital energy.

Arthur felt his forehead and was horrified at the intensity of the heat that blazed from under his hand.

"I thought I was the royal prat," Arthur said, trying to cover his shock with sarcasm.

"I think you still are," Morgana put in.

Merlin's mouth twitched but the next second he hissed in pain. The two nobles looked at Æbald, who was slathering a purplish paste on Merlin's side.

"Sorry," he grunted. "That's that done, though. Next stop Camelot."

"Can't we use magic to heal this?" Arthur said almost pleadingly.

"No. If I'm right, with this type of poison, if we use magic it would only make him worse. It might even kill him. You saw what happened when Lybra tried to use _Draconis Coniectura_," Æbald replied.

Arthur once more picked up Merlin's weak form and sidled with difficulty onto the horse. Looking down he saw Merlin's eyes flickering closed.

"No! Merlin don't you dare fall asleep!" he exclaimed, patting Merlin's face, hard. The warlock's eyes opened again and he looked at Arthur with a dazed expression.

"Hurts..." he mumbled.

"Merlin, you're not going to die," Arthur told him. "You're my best friend and I'm not going to let you die."

Her body felt stiff from standing there for the best part of the day. Gwen had once again watched the day pass by and the sun was now slowly sinking into the west and she was feeling incredibly depressed and the pit of loss inside her deepened.

"_They have to come back_," she thought in hope. "_Something must have happened that's just delayed them_."

Then to her delight, she noticed a small crowd of people encircling two horses in the middle of the courtyard. Gwen immediately recognized he short blond hair of one of the figures among them. Sighing with relief she ran from the room, heart filled with immense joy. People stared as she flew down flights of stairs and corridors, not even stopping to catch her breath. As she ran into the yard, a gap in the crowd opened, leaving the people astride the horses in plain view. Gwen couldn't help it. She screamed.

Arthur heard the screaming and saw Gwen standing on the steps, face transfixed with fright. He then sensed rather than saw Morgana and his uncle dismount the horse behind him. Morgana ran to Gwen and hugged her, comforting her because of the sight that lay before them. Arthur felt a rush of admiration for Morgana's kindness.

"Come on Arthur. He's not going to last much longer," Æbald muttered, tugging at Arthur's sleeve, rather impatiently. Arthur looked down at his friend.

Merlin was in very poor shape. His complexion was waxy and taut, making him look very much like a skeleton with a sweaty mop of raven hair. Merlin's eyes had sustained a glass-like look and were rolling around blindly. He was shaking slightly and his fever raged on furiously.

"Merlin, look at me," Arthur said softly. He thought to himself that that was a miracle because at the moment, his insides squirmed with panic and he wanted to hug the manservant and beg him not to die. Merlin just continued to gaze around, not recognizing anything.

Arthur slid off the horse, cradling Merlin and trying in vain to hush him when the boy cried out bleakly from the pain.

"Don't give up on us. Gaius still needs to see you."

Not for the first time, Arthur kicked Gaius' door open and tumbled inside followed by Gwen, Morgana and Æbald. Gaius was pacing up and down his room, his body tense. When he looked at Arthur holding Merlin's jerking body he skidded over to examine his ward.

"What in heaven's name happened?" he yelped.

"A group of Drows, Gaius," Æbald told him. "They got him with this."

He held out a lump of cloth and he unwrapped the cloth to reveal the dagger still covered in Merlin's blood and a sort of treacly green substance.

"Is it what I think it is?"

As Arthur marched into the room and, with the intense feeling of déjà vu, set Merlin on the bed and tore off the remains of the padded leather top, whilst Gaius looked over the knife.

"It looks like it," he muttered, answering Æbald's question. "But that means we'll have to..." he gulped, unable to finish his sentence.

"You'd better get the stuff ready," Æbald murmured, flatly.

"What do you mean? What is that on the dagger?" Gwen asked.

"One of the most deadly poisons in existence, which makes the victim die a long and painful death. It comes from a flower in Italy that some exported to Camelot and the surrounding kingdoms, although the flower is incredibly rare because it grew best in the Vesuvius region but that area was ravaged by the AD 80 eruption, so it became increasingly harder to find. The flower is called _silfraxus _or the nickname, 'black violet'. Mix it with Cockatrice venom and the juices from the fruit of an Assassin Vine and it forms this." Æbald gestured to the dagger. "Some call it Lucifer's nectar."

There was a tapping noise from Merlin's bedroom. Morgana went to see what it was. They heard her sigh with relief and then the sound of the window opening.

"It's Lybra," Morgana called.

The dragon zipped into the room, clattering to the floor by her master's bedside. Gwen gasped.

"Yes, she's a dragon," Æbald said, watching her expression.

Lybra ignored this and looked at the fire.

"Gaius?" she asked, trembling.

Everyone looked to see the physician leaning over the fire. Arthur, Gwen and Morgana gasped in horror. Arthur actually jumped out of the chair he had occupied. Sitting in the fire was a long poker, the end burning a dim cherry red.

"What are you doing?" Arthur cried, thinking that Gaius had gone mad.

"I need to cauterize the wound to burn the poison," Gaius said, his hands shaking slightly. "It was lucky he didn't swallow it or something like that, otherwise there would be no hope."

"It's the only way, Arthur," Æbald sighed, a gloved hand covering the eyes holes in his helmet as he leant his head into his hand.

Arthur sank back into the chair; Gwen bit her lip and stoked Merlin's cheek; Morgana hid her face in her hand; and Lybra turned to Gaius, a look of fright on her face.

"Can I warm that poker up more quickly so we can get on with it?" she asked, meekly. Gaius nodded, turning his gaze from the dragon to the sickly boy whom he counted as a son, now wheezing harshly, his body limp.

Lybra sucked in a monumental breath and unleashed a minor inferno from her mouth. However short-lived it was, the heat was so intense it caused beads of sweat to appear at the nape of all of their necks. The end of poker was now glowing a light, honey yellow. Gaius gripped the cool end and revolved it in the flames.

"Gwen, could you clean the wound."

The maidservant gathered up a bucket of water that Gaius had collected that morning and a towel. She then leant over the wound and tentatively daubed at the slow trickle of blood, cleaning away the mashed mandrake. Merlin started to moan and jerked in the bed. Arthur and Æbald automatically held him down.

"Can't we give him something for the pain?" Morgana queried.

"Not without making the poison quicken," Gaius replied.

"So we can't help him with anything, not even magic. We can only make the pain he's feeling worse," Arthur said, annoyed.

"Yes Arthur, it..." The physician had just realised what Arthur had said and remembered that Lybra was in the room, a room full of people who had been taught to hate magic.

"It's alright Gaius," Æbald said, looking briefly at Gaius, his hands still holding Merlin's legs down, as the man's eyes widened with shock. "Arthur and Morgana know as do I. He had to reveal himself to save our lives."

"What's going on?" Gwen asked, looking at all of them in turn, setting the cloth in the bucket.

"Later Gwen," Gaius muttered.

He then lifted the poker out of the fireplace and picked a thick wedge of wood off the table and lodged it firmly in Merlin's mouth.

"I'm so sorry, Merlin." He plunged the poker into the wound. Merlin started to buck, rather like when he had collapsed from the burn, held down by Arthur and this time Æbald. His screaming was strangled somewhat by the block of wood. The pungent smell of seared flesh filled the room, causing them to wrinkle their noses.

Morgana had pulled a shaking Gwen away and was once again comforting her, she herself looking as if she was sucking a sour piece of fruit. Arthur's gaze was transfixed on Merlin's face, full of pain, his teeth bearing down on the wood. Lybra was whimpering on the floor, shaking from the amount of agony crossing her link with Merlin. Gaius was looking ill as if he felt what he was doing was blasphemy. Arthur's uncle looked impassive as always, his face hidden under the helmet.

After what felt like forever, Gaius withdrew the poker and Merlin's body relaxed, his eyes rolling backwards and his eyelids closing.

"Move, Gaius!" Æbald yelped, urgently, immediately leaning over the warlock, one hand shooting out to hover over the cauterized wound, the other he used to extract the block of wood from Merlin's mouth.

Arthur collapsed back into the chair; Merlin's screaming still ringing in his ears. He watched as Æbald murmured words in a language unknown to him and his hand glowed an eerie gold. Gwen gave another gasp as the injury disappeared. When the spell had finished, the knight stepped away and they all watched as Merlin opened his eyes. Gwen laughed with joy and hugged him. Once she had let go she gave him a swift kiss before the small dragon was on top of him, licking his face. Merlin was laughing for the first time in days.

"Let him breathe, Lybra," Arthur guffawed and Lybra slid to the bottom of the bed. "Alright then Merlin?"

He clapped his manservant on the shoulder. Merlin gave a funny, calculating look but he was distracted when Morgana hugged him and Merlin returned it. Only then did they notice that Gaius and Æbald were arguing.

"I told you already, I've been travelling for the last twenty years and I learnt how to use magic," Æbald said coolly.

"How could you? You tried to learn when you were younger but you found it impossible. So did Tristan and Igraine," Gaius shot back.

"Igraine? As in Arthur's mother?" Morgana asked loudly, cutting into the argument.

Gaius closed his eyes, realising what he had just said.

"You can tell them Gaius," Arthur muttered. "I know everything." He looked at Merlin, Gwen and Morgana. "My mother was Nimueh's younger sister. Nimueh helped my parents have me as my mother couldn't conceive naturally. But..."

"To create a life, a life must be taken," Merlin finished. "Your mother's life was sacrificed for yours."

The two women looked at Arthur with a mixture of shock and sympathy.

"Arthur, I'm so sorry," Morgana whispered. Arthur sighed.

"I think we need to go and see my father Morgana," he said half-heartedly. "He'll want to know that you're alright."

He stood up and held his hand out for her to take. They left in silence. Gwen and Gaius stared after them.

"Am I missing something here?" Gaius said to the room at large.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you Gaius," Merlin replied, his voice shaking with suppressed mirth.

Lybra let a stream of smoke pour out of her nostrils as she read Merlin's thoughts.

"Hang on," she suddenly cried. "You don't think they'll tell Uther about the magic?"

Arthur was not in the best of moods. It was night and as he walked past windows he briefly took in the unmoving darkness. This did not help his temper.

His father had been overjoyed that both he and Morgana had escaped Nimueh without physical injury. But then the conversation had turned ugly. Uther had heard about their arrival and had even heard Gwen screaming. As the two had explained what had happened, excluding the parts with Merlin's magic and Lybra and the fact that Arthur now knew the truth about his family and how he was born, Uther's expression had deepened to a scowl. His words still echoed in Arthur's head.

"_I'm starting to think that appointing that boy your manservant was a mistake. You seem to be far more friendly towards him than necessary_." There had been a heated argument, both Morgana and Arthur shouting that Merlin had saved Arthur's life so many times and that he had nearly died on some occasions, proving how loyal he was, and that this warranted the prince's friendship more than anything.

Now, Arthur was knocking on Gaius' door. The physician answered within seconds.

"Can I come in?" he whispered.

Gaius nodded and opened the door wide. He could see Merlin asleep on the bed with Lybra dozing at the end.

"Where are Æbald and Gwen?"

"He left a long time ago, saying he needed to check something," Gaius replied. "Gwen went to see Lady Morgana." Arthur strode over to the bed and seated himself on the same chair he had occupied earlier.

"Did you tell your father about Merlin and Lybra?" Gaius said, his voice sounding panicky. Arthur's eyebrows rose.

"No we didn't and I'm not going to," he replied. "He's not used magic for evil and he can't help having it. My father's just as bad as him when he used magic at my birth."

"Are you planning to do anything concerning that?" Arthur twiddled his thumbs in his lap, absent-mindedly.

"I don't know yet. I'm still a bit overwhelmed by everything."

Merlin then shifted in his sleep and mumbled something under his breath, one of his hands sliding off the bed. Arthur looked at the boy's hand and stretched out his own and carefully placed the hand back on the bed. Merlin once more mumbled something but Arthur couldn't hear what it was. Gaius had been watching him.

"When I first met Merlin he saved my life," he reminisced and Arthur turned back to him. "I was looking up there for a book and I fell as he walked in. He slowed time down and moved the bed underneath me to break my fall. I knew that moment he was incredibly gifted as he didn't need to say anything, and he told me he just willed things to happen and they did."

"So he could wish someone dead and they'd die?" Arthur asked apprehensively.

"No, what I meant is that ever since he was a baby he could encourage or suppress movement. He's learnt verbal spells from a book I gave him. My sister asked me to take care of him."

"Your sister?" Gaius folded his arms as Arthur stared at him.

"Hunith is my little sister," the physician explained.

"You three kept that quiet. I had no idea and I bet Morgana and Gwen didn't know either."

"We usually don't have much time to talk about this. Either we're both too busy or we're worrying about someone trying to destroy Camelot."

"But when you don't?"

"My past is not something I enjoy talking about. It involves losing a lot of people I cared about."

"People like Lara?"

"Yes," Gaius muttered, ending that conversation.

Arthur looked back at Merlin, remembering all of those times they had been there for each other, saving each other's necks.

A woman was screaming from a room off the corridor he was standing in. He paced towards the sound and he could hear other voices mingled with the screaming.

"Come on Ig, he's nearly out."

He recognized that voice and as he turned into the room he saw both Nimueh and Lara along with Gaius fussing over a pained Igraine Pendragon.

Seconds later a meek crying sound joined the racket and he saw a small body in Gaius' arms.

"Give... him to me," Igraine gasped. Gaius passed the baby to the queen.

"Gaius, go and get Uther," said an exhausted Nimueh.

The younger physician left, only looking back briefly at Lara and Igraine as they crooned over the baby.

"What are you going to call him Ig?" Lara asked.

"You tell me," Igraine teased. "You're the seer."

Lara laughed as her eyes flashed gold.

"Arthur," she said gleefully. She then leaned closer to the boy and sang quietly and the baby's crying subsided and he fell asleep. Nimueh chuckled.

"You must look after my baby," Igraine suddenly groaned.

"What? Don't be silly Ig; you're going to be able to take care of him. You're going to be a brilliant mother," Lara said, slightly worried.

"I can't Lara," Igraine whispered. "Tell Uther... and Tristan... and everyone else... I'm sorry." She smiled, closed her eyes and her body relaxed.

"Ig? Igraine?" Lara shrieked. "No! Come on Ig, you can't leave us! You can't die!"

Lara murmured a few words and her hand glowed gold as she held it over her sister, attempting to heal Igraine, the baby still in her arms.

"Nim help me!" Lara cried, tears rolling down her face. Nimueh rushed over and together they tried to save Igraine. But they were too late.

Suddenly, Lara started to jerk as her eyes once again burnt gold. The baby was once again awake and crying.

"Lara?" Nimueh said nervously. Lara looked at Nimueh, her face full of fear.

"What have you done?" she screamed. She then started to try and revive the queen again.

The door banged open and Gaius and Uther rushed in. Gaius ran over to the Igraine and felt for a pulse. Lara had ignored them and was still trying to heal her. The physician shook his head and prised the baby out of Igraine's dead grip, passing him to Uther, his expression one grim. Nimueh looked at the king.

"She named him Arthur," she said shakily, hands clenched as she tried not to cry.

Lara sobbed hysterically and ran. He followed as Gaius pursued her. She only managed to reach the bottom of the stairs before she collapsed from grief. Gaius skidded as he dropped down next to her and hugged her. Lara cried into his shoulder.

"What have I done Gaius?" she sobbed.

"You didn't do anything wrong," he reassured her. "You were the one who said this wasn't a good idea."

"But because I did nothing Igraine's dead and... and..." She broke down into sobs again.

"What did you see Lara?" Gaius asked warily. Lara looked him full in the face.

"Uther's retribution," she whispered, burying her head into his chest, which he kissed tenderly.

"Merlin for the love of Pete, wake up!" someone shouted.

Merlin's eyes sprang open and he sat bolt upright. Arthur and Gaius were on either side of him and Lybra was lying on his legs as if to stop him from kicking them about. He suddenly felt exhausted and fell back onto the pillow. As he looked at Arthur he felt a ripple of shock. He really did look like his mother.

"What happened Merlin?" Gaius asked.

The warlock opened his mouth but he couldn't speak. He was still shocked at what he had seen.

"Lybra can you explain?" the physician turned to the dragon. She gulped as if she wished he hadn't asked. Merlin couldn't blame her.

"It was another one of those dreams," she explained. "He saw what happened the night Arthur was born." Gaius closed his eyes and for a few moments he sat in silence.

"You saw Igraine die," he murmured, looking pitifully at Merlin, who seemed to find his voice.

"They couldn't save her," he gasped. "She died holding the baby."

He regretted saying this as Arthur stiffened and lost some of the colour in his face.

"I'm sorry... I didn't... I shouldn't have said that. I am an idiot."

"No you're not," Arthur said gruffly. "You're just in shock."

The door suddenly flew open and Æbald barged in, his shoulder dripping with blood from a large bite mark.

"We are in deep trouble."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16- The Drow Sisterhood

Gaius bustled over to Æbald, looking intently at his shoulder.

"Here, let me-"

"Leave it," Æbald said. "It would be pointless to heal it when what's coming is much worse."

"What's going to happen?" Merlin asked, sitting up again.

"Those Drows that attacked us didn't just do so by coincidence," Æbald growled. "Nimueh sent them to hurt you, Merlin. That one that threw the dagger was told you'd protect Arthur, no matter what happened to you. I retraced their steps and... well, it's not good. A whole army was camping next to the waterfall in the Balor forest. Nimueh's been rallying the Drows to take Camelot. There's about one thousand of them."

"Well that's not that bad; our army has approximately the same number of men," Arthur said.

"That's not all they've got. There's also a dozen Chimeras." There was a horrified silence as they all took in Æbald's words.

"How did you get that?" Arthur said, pointing at the bite on the knight's shoulder.

"A couple of Drows caught me snooping around in the bushes," Æbald grumbled. "They aroused the others and Nimueh. I don't think she knew that I was involved until now. Everyone used to think I was dead. She looked surprised at anyhow. But I got away after one of those Chimeras bit me. I don't think they have a good time at trying to keep those things in control. Nimueh killed it personally, giving me a nice little distraction."

"The Balor forest?" Gaius groaned. "But that means that they'll arrive here in the morning, early afternoon at the latest. Wait, what's that?"

From the open door, they could hear footsteps hurrying towards them. As Lybra dove under Merlin's bedcovers, Gwen entered, leading a distraught and scared Morgana.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked, jumping to his feet and going over to them.

"She had another nightmare," Gwen told everyone.

"What did you see, Morgana?" Æbald said. To their surprise, he sounded almost excited.

"I saw... Camelot. It was burning and people were screaming and I heard someone laughing. I thought it might be Nimueh," Morgana stammered. "When Gwen woke me, my head hurt and I... and I..." she closed her eyes, unable to finish.

Lybra poked her head out from under the covers.

"The table set itself on fire," Gwen continued. "When she calmed down it stopped."

"A witch," Merlin muttered.

"I beg your pardon," Arthur said, looking at Merlin incredulously.

"Nimueh told me she's a witch, only her full potential was hidden under her power of foresight," Merlin explained.

"But Morgana doesn't see the future," Arthur said.

"Don't be too sure Arthur," Gaius sighed. "Remember when Sophia and Aulfric came to Camelot. Morgana told me she'd seen you drowning whilst Sophia stood over you, watching you die-"

"And it happened," Arthur finished.

Gaius turned to his ward.

"Did you tell them everything?"

Merlin shrugged and continued to look at Morgana.

"People, we can deal with the magic fiasco later. We need to alert the kingdom to the horde of Drows heading this way," Æbald interrupted.

"Drows?" Gwen said, eyebrows furrowing together. "What on earth are they? Why would they be coming here?"

"Drows are elves that exist to do evil and they're coming here to destroy Camelot," Æbald replied.

"We can't expect the woman and children to fight," Morgana said diplomatically. "They need to evacuate but we can't expect them to trek across through the forest. The Drows would find them."

"There's no way out of the kingdom that wouldn't put them in danger," Arthur concluded.

"Oh yes there is," Æbald said. "Gaius, do you remember when Lara, Igraine and I went missing for an entire day?"

"How could I forget? You had the whole castle in uproar and your father and I were pacing the council chamber all day. I went looking through the lower town myself," Gaius laughed.

"Well we'd discovered an old tunnel that was in the old baker's place that was closed. Lara stood on a loose rock behind the pantry. After we'd moved some more stones we found the entrance. All three of us went down and we explored. The exit comes out next to that abandoned settlement near our old house," Æbald explained.

"Cayoldir?" Gaius asked.

"Yes, that's the one. Anyway, Igraine suggested we make a pact not to tell anyone about it. Nobody else seemed to know it was there. None of us told anyone, not even Tristan or Nimueh, though I did have to stop Lara from telling you," the knight continued.

"That girl," Gaius sighed. "She always told me everything."

"Is that a bad thing?" Æbald asked.

"No, it definitely isn't. I'm glad that she trusted me that much."

"We need to tell my father," Arthur said, interrupting the men's conversation. "Then ready the knights, soldiers and any man who knows how to fight. Whilst we do that we'll everybody else out of here."

"Let's get going," Æbald sighed.

Merlin made to follow them but only got as far as standing up before he groaned and fell back onto the bed.

"You're going nowhere fast," Gaius noted. "You're still weak from the poison."

Æbald and Arthur stalked towards the council chamber, to which the doors were wide open and a low buzzing noise of people murmuring was issuing from the room. Inside all of the nobles and knights were talking, some in pairs or else in large groups. When they spotted the two men a gradual silence filled the room. Uther was sitting on his throne, staring at his son, having just finished a conversation with one of the knights. He motioned for Arthur to join him.

"Everyone wants to know what's going on," the king whispered. "I myself would like to know why you're suggesting we ready the entire army."

"There's a Drow army coming this way with a large group of Chimeras," Æbald called. At this the entire congregation turned to him. No one seemed capable of speech apart from Bedivere.

"Drows? Don't be absurd, they haven't lived in this kingdom for years," he said sceptically.

"Well then explain why hundreds are currently breaking camp in the Balor forest," Æbald growled. "They've been rallied by a sorceress who wants to enforce magic back on the land."

"How do we know what you say is true?" Bedivere challenged. There was a murmur of agreement. Æbald turned his head to the side and Arthur guessed that, underneath his helmet, the knight had rolled his eyes.

"Fine, if you want every single person in Camelot to be brutally murdered, don't do anything. Though I warn you now, Drows are all drained in combat and they are ruthlessly lethal opponents," the green knight explained in a dangerously low voice, advancing on Bedivere. "They'll hunt you down without hesitation, maybe even cut your head off or cleave out your entails just for the fun of it." He was right in front of Bedivere now. "Imagine an entire city full of blood and then maybe you'll take me seriously, Sir Knight."

"He's not lying Bedivere," Arthur muttered audibly. Everyone then turned to him. "After we found Lady Morgana, we were attacked by a group of Drows, who gave us a warning about Camelot's end, and later Æbald retraced their steps."

"But where is the proof he actually did that?"

At this, Æbald gave growl, no to unlike an angry dog.

"Is this proof enough? A Chimera bite and last time I looked only Drows or Dark Elves, as they're also known, dared to try and tame them" he cried, displaying his mutilated shoulder and throwing the dagger that had nearly killed Merlin on the floor.

"How can we know that that wound is genuine?" Bedivere said coolly.

"What do you think did this? A pixie? Can't you see the make of the dagger?" Æbald practically shrieked. "We are wasting time with this pointless bickering. Nimueh is leading an army this very minute and I don't expect that they'll take any prisoners. We need to get the women and children out of here."

"Who's Nimueh?" another knight asked.

"Oh give me strength!" Æbald shouted. "If you must know, Nimueh is the sorceress who poisoned the water by creating the Afanc; the one who poisoned that chalice which nearly started a war with Mercia; and she also brought that Black Knight back from the dead. She may have been killed by Arthur's manservant but she's found a way to come back."

Silence followed this statement. All of them didn't move a muscle, Bedivere still in Æbald's shadow. Finally Uther spoke.

"How do you suggest we evacuate the woman and children?" he asked Æbald.

"There's a tunnel behind the baker's shop that closed down about thirty-five years ago. It leads to an abandoned settlement by the Alpha Lake," the knight replied. "The entrance is by the wall of the pantry."

Uther sighed and addressed the entire court.

"Have all the woman, children and people who cannot fight taken to this tunnel with supplies. Alert the soldiers to prepare to fight."

Arthur was once again in Gaius' room, arguing with an indignant Merlin, watched by the physician and Lybra.

"You can't just expect me to lie here and not do anything," Merlin protested. "You need my help."

"You're still weak from the poison and you can barely stand," Arthur shot back. "And what if my father found out you had magic? He'd kill you himself and not bother with the executioner. I'm not making you leave, so you can help Gaius with the casualties however you can. That's something isn't it?"

"Don't you get it Arthur, you need to live! You're going to be king one day and you can't do that if you're dead. It's my job to make sure that you don't die."

"You're not fighting and that's final. You'd be chopped up within five minutes even if you did use magic."

"I am not-"

But Merlin never finished his sentence. Arthur gave a cry of exasperation and slung the warlock over his shoulder.

"What are you doing!" Lybra cried out, shocked and amused at the same time. She followed as Arthur carried the protesting Merlin into the young man's room.

"You are staying here," Arthur said with finality, dropping Merlin onto his bed. "If you try and risk your neck like an idiot I swear I'll kill you."

He strode out slamming the door behind him before Merlin or Lybra could say or do anything and jammed the door with a chair.

"They do not leave," he told Gaius. "You don't let them out and they definitely don't join the fight. Stay here and look after them. Any casualties will have to come to you."

Not waiting for the old man to reply he left and went down to the courtyard where the last stragglers were being led to the tunnel and the sun was rising again. He gripped the hilt of his sword.

Morgana and Gwen had wanted to stay and help but their pleas had been argued against by him, Merlin, Gaius and Uther. Æbald had not joined these conversations, preferring to watch from the side, occasionally grunting with amusement. Eventually Uther had put his foot down and they had left with the rest of the evacuees.

Arthur now wished he had said something to his friends as it might have been the last time he saw any of them.

In the courtyard, soldiers and the knights were forming lines, checking their armour or else testing the weight of their swords. Arthur walked to the front of the army where his father and uncle were standing, at the gates. They stood there as the sun crept over their heads, the hours slipping by with unnecessary speed.

At last, the sound of approaching numbers reached their ears, the feet of the oncoming threat brushing against the cobbled street like a breath of wind.

"Have fun, you two," Æbald said. Both father and son looked at him incredulously. "Well, I doubt you've had a decent fight in ages. I think I'm getting a bit rusty myself."

"This isn't really the time for jokes," Arthur murmured.

A crashing noise echoed from by the houses outside the castle walls, and through the gates they could see a throng of bodies approaching.

"Archers loose!" Uther bellowed.

"I can't see anyone," Gwen muttered to Morgana, briefly lifting the visor of her helmet. They were creeping down an alleyway between two houses. "Something tells me that they've guessed that no one is still in the town."

"Surely they would have left someone on the lookout near here," Morgana said. "Didn't Æbald say that they had Chimeras? I haven't seen any yet and the fight's been going on for a couple of hours now."

"You're right. I've only seen Drows, so where are those Chimeras?"

"Oh God! I've just realised something! Did you ask Gaius about how dangerous Chimeras are?" Morgana cried.

"Yes, he said that they have the head of lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a dragon and that they're very vicious and bloodthirsty creatures. Only a few have survived from encounters. Gaius also mentioned that the leader of the pack, tribe, whatever, has three heads- lion, goat and dragon- and that is has the body of an eagle," Gwen replied.

"If, as you say, these creatures are indeed that vicious, what if they're being held back until the Drows weaken Camelot's defences, then the Chimeras can finish everyone else off without much difficulty," Morgana thought aloud.

Gwen's eyes widened under her helmet visor.

"How on earth do we tell anyone? We can't without revealing ourselves." Gwen looked at her mistress. "We have to stop them before they let those creatures loose."

Morgana nodded and together they crept down the side of the main road that led to the citadel.

However, when they were nearing the edge of the city, the heard approaching footsteps and to their horror they saw a small group of Drows coming down the street. The pair heard the creak of a door opening behind them and somebody grabbed them and pulled them inside.

"Idiotic women," a voice hissed.

Gwen and Morgana turned around to find themselves facing the pale faced seamstress. The woman then paced around the room, snuffing out candles, casting them all in darkness. Outside they could hear the Drows stalk past the door and towards the castle.

"Thank you, Eleanor," Gwen whispered as they both took off their helmets. "But what are you still doing here? Everybody was evacuated."

"I might ask you the same question," Eleanor said, hissing again. "Alright, I understand why you're here and I wasn't expecting anything less of you two. Neither of you were ones to be obedient and run away, unlike some I could name. But you need to be more careful. Didn't anyone tell either of you that stealth is a key thing in an attack? That's rhetorical by the way."

"You know this woman?" Morgana asked Gwen, staring at the faint outline of the seamstress.

"She's an old friend of my father's," Gwen replied.

"And I knew your father to, Morgana, something I don't tell many people," Eleanor stated.

"Really?"

"Gods yes. Gorlois was one of the finest men I ever met and I can see you're quite like him. You're not taking this attack lightly, exactly like he wouldn't."

There was a small ruffling noise and a single candle was lit in Eleanor's hand.

"I was tempted to come and find you because I knew you wouldn't have left with all of the others, but those idiot soldiers didn't hide the entrance so I went to make it look less conspicuous without blocking it off entirely and I only just got back in time to see you ladies standing outside my house with a group of those God damn Drows coming at you. You're lucky they didn't see you."

"Why did you need to come and find us?" Gwen asked.

"Call it instinct but I knew that you'd figure out what they were planning with the group of Chimeras. Yes, they're keeping them hidden until it's easier to dispose of Camelot's defenders," she told them as the two looked at each other. "I heard some of the Drows discussing where they're keeping the beasts. It's by the edge of the forest, a clearing a few metres in, well hidden from view. They're keeping the Chimeras in this makeshift hut with at least twenty guards watching over it."

"Twenty?" Morgana gasped.

"Which is why I wanted to give you this," Eleanor said, handing Gwen a couple of pouches. Looking inside, Gwen saw that they were both filled with a deep red powder.

"What is this stuff?" she asked, reaching inside.

"Don't touch it, not unless you want to be blown apart if your hand comes into contact with fire," Eleanor shrieked quietly. "It's a powder that my people created some years ago."

"Your people?"

"I didn't always live in Camelot. I used to live in a proud community until they began to become corrupt and I didn't agree with a few of their new laws. Anyhow, some of us developed this explosive powder. If you set fire to it you have a few seconds to get away from it sharpish before it causes a huge mess. A handful would be enough to destroy a small room. I'm only telling you this because I know for a fact that everybody else will be too preoccupied and they may not trust the word of a woman who was mad enough to stay behind and seems to have too much information on some of the Drows' plans."

"But how can we trust you?" Morgana asked suspiciously.

Gwen frowned at her slightly but Eleanor just tittered.

"Good point, how _can _you trust me? Well let's just say I know about you and the dragon boy."

"Dragon boy?" Gwen queried.

Eleanor looked meaningfully at Morgana, who understood what she meant and who she meant by 'dragon boy'. She turned pale white.

"But how-"

"I have a sense towards these things, so you could call it my own little gift. Don't worry though, I wouldn't tell a soul about either of you."

Morgana smiled at her.

"Thank you," she said. Eleanor then went to the door, opened it and peered outside.

"The coast's clear. If you want to give a hand in saving Camelot then might I suggest that you go and get rid of those Chimeras," she whispered.

"Can't you come with us?" Morgana said as she and Gwen put on their helmets on once more.

"How old do I look to you, Morgana?"

The king's ward gazed at the seamstress, taking in how young she looked.

"You can't be much older than me and Gwen," she speculated.

Eleanor snorted.

"You'd be surprised. I don't look it but I'm really old, even older than Gaius."

Both younger women stared at her in bewilderment.

"Meaning because of my old bones, I'd be useless in a fight. I never learnt to fight anyway."

There was a few seconds of silence.

"Thank you Eleanor," Gwen said again and she strode outside, followed by Morgana. They started to creep towards the forest, then Eleanor whistled and they looked back.

"Be careful for the love of God. Make sure you steer clear of Nimueh, though I expect she'll be looking for Uther." She closed the door behind her, leaving the two women standing in the street.

"What do you think?" Morgana asked her maid. Gwen sighed.

"I think it's up to us to make sure that the Chimeras aren't let loose, otherwise who knows how many people will die."

"Do you think Arthur's alright?" Morgana asked looking at back at the castle, from where they could hear the clashing of swords and the bellowing of men and Drow alike.

"I hope so." Gwen turned to look at Camelot as well.

Morgana glanced at her.

"I'm sure Merlin's alright as well," she reassured Gwen. "We'd better go. We have no idea when they might let the Chimeras go."

They slipped into the shadows of the surrounding houses and darted down the street towards the main gates that led to the outskirts of the forest. Sprinting across the open ground, they hid themselves in the cool shelter of the trees. Ahead they could hear hushed murmuring and they edged towards the voices, carefully as to not disturb the undergrowth beneath their feet that may give them away. Staring through a thin bush they saw a small group of Drows standing guard around the perimeter of the clearing. As Eleanor had said there was a small makeshift hut that held the vicious beasts within. Morgana and Gwen could hear the snarling from where they crouched.

Morgana felt a sudden jab in her back and they both turned around and to their dismay they saw a Drow looming over them, the black armour bringing out the flame red hair that fell over the Drow's shoulder, accenting the startling green eyes.

"Get up," the Drow snarled. Judging by their voice, both Morgana and Gwen guessed that this Drow was female. "Kaila, I've caught some soldiers from Camelot." The Drow called over to one of the others and a dark haired Drow with violet eyes and deep blue armour came over.

"Well done Rieta," Kaila praised. "It looks like we have caught some deserters. The Sisterhood will be pleased."

The Drow called Rieta turned back to Morgana and Gwen.

"Remove your helmets," she commanded. "Remove them or we shall execute you both where you crouch."

Morgana looked at Gwen and nodded. They lifted their helmets off their heads simultaneously. The Drows recoiled in shock but the shock soon turned to loathing.

"Well, this is a nice surprise," Kaila sneered. "The Lady Morgana and... her servant girl by the looks of it."

"You owe us our sister's life your Ladyship, our blood-sister Leona," Rieta spat. "You, the prince, that knight who refuses to remove his helmet, and the traitor to his own kind."

Gwen was puzzled. How was Merlin a traitor to his own kind? He wasn't a magical being, was he?

"Come," Kaila hissed and the two women were led into the clearing by the two Drows.

As they came through the undergrowth, Morgana and Gwen saw who had been muttering. By the hut that housed the Chimeras, there was a group of about ten Drow women, all standing in a perfect circle, hands linked.

"Sisters, we come baring gifts," Rieta called.

The Drows in the circle ended their chanting and turned to look at the captive Morgana and Gwen. Some glared at the two with pure hatred, particularly Morgana, and others looked rather surprised.

"Well done Rieta and Kaila. It seems that you have brought us something that may give us an advantage in this war against Uther," one of the women said.

All of the Drow women in 'the Sisterhood' were wearing deep purple robes. Their hair colour and style varied, some with deep red like Rieta, a couple with straw blonde locks, all with a single strip of silver encircling their brows. The one that had spoken had snow-white hair and jet black eyes. Morgana guessed that she was the leader out of all of these women.

"They won't surrender because of us," Morgana said defiantly.

The white haired Drow chortled delicately.

"On the contrary Lady Morgana, we have watched humans for centuries and we know that some will go to extraordinary lengths to protect the ones they care for. However, we have our orders from Nimueh. We must leave no survivors and I can only imagine how much Rieta and Kaila want to kill you for the death of their blood-sister. But first you may want to watch as we dispose of Arthur's manservant. He seems to have been more trouble than necessary."

"NO!" Morgana and Gwen cried.

"Don't you dare!" Morgana screeched.

"What do you plan to do? You are both our prisoners and if you try to do anything we shall only make the boy's death quicker, so don't bother trying to draw your swords," the white haired Drow threatened.

She then turned to the others.

"Sisters, it is time to be rid of a disease that would stop our cause."

"Yes Sister Gort," the other said in a monotone.

"Gort?" Gwen whispered.

"It is the Celtic word for the ash tree, ignorant human," Kaila scolded from behind her.

"Execute the human females," Sister Gort commanded, not even looking as she and the others reformed the circle.

Kaila and Rieta grinned with relish and dragged Morgana and Gwen away from the Sisterhood. The other guards walked up to the two Drow women, all of them carrying a bow that was already had an arrow at the ready. Morgana clutched at Gwen's hand as she felt the fear build up inside her.

"Ready," Rieta cried.

"Aim," Kaila cackled. The Drows pulled back the bowstring and pointed the arrowhead at the two human women.

"FIRE," both Drow women shrieked. The archers let loose and the arrows shot towards Morgana and Gwen.

Morgana felt as if time had suddenly slowed down as her fear peeked but then she felt it rush out of her in a wave. To her astonishment the arrows caught fire halfway towards them and disintegrated, the ashes falling to the floor. Not only that but horribly agonised cries were echoing around the clearing. Kaila, Rieta and the Drow archers were all burning. They tried to swat away the flames but the fire only increased in volume. Within a minute, all that was left was a pile of ashes were they had each stood.

"Did you do that?" Gwen asked, sounding horrified.

"I think I did," Morgana replied, suddenly feeling slightly faint.

Across the clearing, the Drow Sisterhood had stopped their continued chanting and were all staring at Morgana and Gwen and shock.

"Gwen, pass me the powder."

Gwen handed Morgana a pouch filled with the strange powder that Eleanor had given them. Morgana looked at the pouch and tried to channel the remainder of her fear and some of her anger. If she was magical, surely she could do this when she really needed the magic. It worked. Seconds later, flames were beginning to lick away at the pouch. Morgana threw it with all of her might at the hut with the Chimeras inside and the stunned Sisterhood standing right next to it.

"RUN!" she yelled.

She and Gwen ran at breakneck speed towards the safety of the trees. They dived into the bushes and flung themselves behind a tree. There was a colossal roar and the two women closed their eyes as a blinding light flashed around them and they felt the heat race around them. It was over within moments.

Stepping from behind the tree, Morgana and Gwen saw the wreckage of the hut that had held the creatures and spaced around it were small mounds of ashes. They then spotted a gruesome sight. A Chimera head was still intact, even after the explosion, its tongue lolling out of the lion head, eyes open and staring.

A sudden shrieking noise echoed throughout the clearing. Looking at the sky, the women saw a monstrous creature flying towards them. Just as Gwen had described, the leader of the Chimera pack had three heads, lion and goat and dragon, and the body of an eagle but with four legs. It landed on the ground with a thud and began to advance on them, hissing with malice.

On instinct, Gwen grabbed at the last pouch of powder. Looking around, she saw a bush that was still alight from the explosion. Rushing over to it, she called to Morgana.

"Try to keep it busy."

Morgana drew her sword and slowly advanced on the Chimera, keeping as far as possible away from the ferocious heads. Gwen was kneeling by the bush and was holding the pouch in the fire.

"Come on. Come on," she muttered. She was gradually growing more frustrated and worried about how long Morgana would be able to keep the Chimera at bay. Suddenly, the hem of the pouch caught fire and Gwen clutched it in her hand and threw it at the beast.

"RUN!" she screamed like Morgana had after the first pouch had been lit.

They dove behind a log on the outskirts of the clearing. They peaked briefly over the log to see the Chimera inspecting the burning pouch but it soon lost interest and turned to where Morgana and Gwen had ran.

BOOM!

Once more, they both closed their eyes and covered their heads as the heat rushed over them. Once the explosion had ended, they both stood to see a huge pile of ashes representing where the Chimera had just stood.

"It seems cruel to have done something like that," Gwen whispered. Morgana looked at her.

"We did it to save our home, our people and our friends." Gwen nodded, giving her a small smile. "Come on, let's go and find Arthur and Merlin."

Merlin had heard the two armies clash and the first kills as metal met metal, and the shrieks of Drows or the cries of men and at one point he thought he had heard a couple of explosions in the distance. He had tried to stand a few times, to no avail.

"_I need to help them_," he thought.

"_I know_," Lybra replied. "_But you are currently weaker than a hatchling_."

"_That doesn't mean I can't try_."

Merlin then pushed himself off of the bed where Arthur had dumped him. He staggered as his head pounded, his stomach lurched and his legs wobbled. But reaching deep inside of himself, he raised barriers that numbed the painful sensations in his body and knelt on the floor, reaching for the sword Arthur had given him for his birthday and the staff that had once been Sophia's. The warlock then carefully stood and went over to the door and tried to open it. He was unsuccessful. Ignoring the aching in his legs, which was trying to break down his resistance, he felt for the magic and willed the door open. But as it swung open with a groan, a chill filled the room and an ethereal voice spoke like a breath of wind.

"_Merlin_."

He spun around, gazing around his room for the speaker.

"Merlin!" Lybra squeaked and let out a sibilant hiss.

Merlin followed her gaze and yelped in shock. He looked at the other end of the room. No one was there. However, when he turned back to the mirror, he saw a woman standing next to the table, smiling. It wasn't just any woman either. He recognized her blue eyes and long blonde hair and she was wearing a neatly cut white dress. What happened next nearly gave Merlin a heart attack.

"Hello there young warlock. I see you're going to save Arthur from my sister," she said, apparently not at all surprised that she had appeared in a mirror.

"But... sorry, but aren't you dead, your highness?" Merlin asked, only just keeping a hold of the capability of speech. Igraine Pendragon laughed.

"Yes, I'm dead," she giggled, folding her arms. "I'm just an apparition but it's still me." She laughed again. "I take it you don't know that Nimueh is technically dead as well, otherwise you would have enchanted your sword before rushing off."

"_Technically dead_. How can she be dead if she can use magic?" Lybra growled sceptically.

Igraine looked from the small dragon to Merlin in alarm.

"Haven't you read the Book of Dragons?" she said. Merlin and Lybra both shook their heads. "Didn't Gaius give you the book for your birthday Merlin?"

"What's in there that could help?" Merlin asked warily.

Igraine smiled sadly, having spotted his suspicious tone.

"Goodness, you're so like my brother Tristan! He was reluctant to trust some people when something odd was happening. But then it comes from living with a secret that could get you killed; protecting my son in the meantime."

"I didn't mean... I just didn't expect something like this to happen. Nimueh could have conjured you to trick me," Merlin muttered.

"She didn't. I chose to appear to help save my family," Igraine sighed. "And to save my family, Merlin, you need Lybra to burnish your sword."

"But you only need a burnished blade if..." he trailed off, suddenly realising where this was going. "...if you need to kill a wraith."

"Yes," the queen clarified, hanging her head.

"You don't want me to destroy Nimueh do you?"

"There's no other way."

"She's your sister. No one would want someone to kill a loved one."

"Yet it's the only way to stop her from killing other loved ones. If Nimueh isn't stopped, everyone will die. Merlin, you need to save them or there will be no more Camelot and no Albion."

Merlin turned to Lybra, holding his sword out.

"Can you do it?"

The dragon cracked a smile.

"Watch me."

As the sword was magically ripped from Merlin's hand and both it and Lybra rose into the air, she let out a stream of fire from her mouth unlike anything she had done before. The flame wrapped itself around the sword, engulfing it with heat and a flickering light until both element and metal were combined as one. The weapon then sank slowly to the floor.

Grabbing it, Merlin raced out of the room, Lybra flapping in the air behind him. Gaius was pacing the room and he stared in shock as Merlin made for the door.

"Merlin?"

"Gaius, please don't try and stop me. Nimueh can only be killed by a burnished sword and unless I go, Arthur and everybody else will die," he said.

Gaius walked up to him and hugged the warlock.

"Be careful," he muttered. Merlin nodded and left, followed by Lybra. Gaius sat down at his desk. All he could do was wait.


	18. Chapter 18

**Thanks for the reviews and favourites/story alerts which we both appreciate. Hope you enjoy these two chapters! (:**

Chapter 17- Something worth dying for

The kingdom was in complete uproar. Both armies had suffered from innumerable deaths within the hour and they were increasing rapidly.

Arthur had lost sight of his father and Æbald ages ago. The number of Drows seemed to be greater than what the knight had seen. As he fought his way through the ambush, doing his best to avoid treading on the mangled corpses, he caught sight of another figure dressed in deep green. Æbald had also spotted him.

"Arthur, help your father!" he yelled. "He's confronting Nimueh in the courtyard."

He was then attacked by a group of Drows and turned his concentration on them.

Pushing his way back through the battling crowds, thankfully ignored by most, he saw the king and the sorceress fighting by the castle wall. This confrontation was being given a wide berth and the occasional soldier that went to aid Uther was struck down before they got anywhere near the duel. Arthur pounded towards the two, their hateful conversation becoming clearer.

"You destroyed my family just because of your prejudices against a way of life," Nimueh screeched, aiming for Uther's head, which he blocked.

"Your way of life took away the only person I ever truly loved," he shouted back.

"Yet it gave you the son you craved. It seems that you never truly appreciated Igraine's sacrifice, training him to be a man of war, so don't mind if I take it back."

"Don't you dare," Uther growled, swinging his sword at her.

Nimueh flung her hand out and the king was thrust back against the wall.

Arthur increased his speed and charged at Nimueh. She span around and blocked his oncoming blow.

"Arthur, how kind of you to join us." The sorceress looked briefly at Uther. "Do you think that we tell your father that you found out about your family history? This is going to be the last time you'll be able to talk about it."

Arthur didn't answer. There was a time and a place to be contemplating such things and that definitely was not now.

"Don't you want to say anything? For example, how do you feel about the fact that he hunted down my sister and killed her as well as my brother and father?"

"Look what you've done with your grief," Arthur snarled. "You've killed, poisoned and used a dead man for your own errands."

Nimueh's face turned sour.

"I think that's enough."

Arthur felt himself fly backwards, like in the cave, and his head smacked against the wall.

"ARTHUR!" He heard his father's voice but also the voices of two other very familiar people.

Head throbbing, he lifted his body of the floor into a sitting position and watched as Morgana and Gwen engaged with Nimueh.

"Arthur?" Uther had crawled to him and, for the first time Arthur could remember, he looked fearful.

"'M fine," he mumbled, reaching behind his head. Part of it was wet with blood. He moaned as his head throbbed, leaning against the wall, eyes closed against the sharp pain. Over the ringing in his ears, he could have sworn that his father was muttering sorry continuously but he thought he was imagining it. His father wasn't like that.

There was a bang and Arthur's eyes flew open as Morgana came flying their way, colliding hard with the ground. Meanwhile Gwen was struggling with the sorceress. Morgana tried to stand again but found that her legs had seemed to have lost their energy and were unwilling to respond. All she could do was drag herself closer to Arthur and Uther.

"Arthur, are you alright?"

Arthur answered with a nod, the ringing in his ears gradually stopping and the pain in his head lessening somewhat.

"I think I've had worse," he muttered.

They were distracted by a slicing noise and they all looked to see that Gwen had driven her sword into Nimueh's chest. Nimueh cackled and then Gwen was hurtling towards the group, skidding across the floor and colliding with Morgana. The sorceress wrenched the sword out of her bodice, dropped it and paced deliberately towards them, sneering maliciously. Arthur crawled in front of the two women.

"How sweet, the sad little family is going to die together. The only two missing are Gaius and Merlin."

"Nimueh!"

All of them looked around to see a blood-spattered Æbald standing there, sword poised.

"Leave them alone. This is between you and me," he shouted over the continuing battle surrounding them. Nimueh raised her eyebrows.

"Why do you fight for them, brother?" she asked silkily. "Don't you think that our family needs vengeance?"

"Vengeance is not always the answer to our quarrels. Look what happened to Tristan. Nimueh, I know it is hard to comprehend but the Old Religion decreed that it was Igraine's life was taken in exchange for Arthur's," Æbald said stiffly.

"The Old Religion abandoned our family long ago. It does not care who it hurts, even someone devoted to its way," Nimueh hissed.

"It may not care whose life is taken but it never abandoned our family," came the reply.

Nimueh's face suddenly turned into one of rage and madness. Her hand shot up once more but this time a hissing sound came from Æbald's helmet. He shouted out in pain and groped at it, pulling it off and it rolled onto the floor.

A curtain of raven hair fell over the knight's face, apparently unaffected by the scolding helmet, still boiling away on the ground.

"_That can't be right_," Arthur thought. "_Æbald doesn't have dark hair_."

It seemed that Uther and Nimueh had realised this too and were both frowning at Æbald. The man started to lift his head, very slowly, and the hair parted, revealing his face.

They all gasped in horror. It was not Æbald. This person wasn't even a man. She was a woman and not just any woman either. It was the granite blue-eyed and raven-haired Lara.

"You?" Nimueh gasped, losing her composure.

"Hello sister. Long time, no see," Lara said, her expression stern.

"But... you died. The dragon felt your bond sever."

"I severed it on purpose. Father persuaded me to save my life and Æbald's."

"Æbald? Is he alive?" Nimueh asked, suddenly seeming hopeful. Lara shook her head, closing her grief filled eyes briefly. Nimueh then became angry again.

"You betrayed your own dragon!"

"I'm not proud of destroying the bond but betrayal is a bit strong," Lara said sadly.

"You deserted your own family. You let our father die. I saw his medallion in the wreckage; he never took it off, no matter what," Nimueh shrieked.

"Do you think I had a choice? Æbald dragged me out of the house and you know full well that I wouldn't use magic on my own brother," Lara growled, her hands shaking, teeth bared.

"You just said that he died."

"He didn't die in the fire. He was killed by a Salamander."

"Why did you let Tristan and me think you were dead? He went and got himself killed by that monster," Nimueh said, pointing at Uther.

"Uther isn't a monster," Lara said, quite calmly this time. "Grief can destroy a person and make them lash out at people. He hasn't done too bad running the kingdom. Nobody would say he's unfair with normal matters and he does his best to protect Arthur, even if it involves making tough decisions."

"You admit then that he has prosecuted magic?"

"He may have but killing him and Arthur wouldn't be what Igraine would want."

Nimueh laughed derisively.

"If that is what you believe."

A fireball crackled into life in Nimueh's hand and she threw it, without warning, at the four still sitting transfixed on the floor. Lara's eyes widened and she broke into a run.

Arthur once again felt time slow to an immensely slow crawl. The fireball continued on its course but a blur that was Lara jumped in front of it. Time sped up again and the ball of fire connected with Lara's bitten shoulder. The younger sorceress tumbled back and landed at Uther's feet. She hissed in pain and she inspected the burn.

"So it comes to this," Nimueh said, almost gleefully. "The slaughterer, the traitor, the maid, the new little witch and the prat are all going to die together."

"Only I'm allowed to call him that," someone called from behind her back.

A roar echoed around Camelot, unheard by everyone apart from the group, and a rush of fire separated them from the rest of the fray. It illuminated a solitary figure carrying a staff and a sword, wearing a blue top underneath a red neckerchief.

"If you want to hurt them, you'll have to get past me," Merlin said as the small dragon landed at his feet.

"Which won't be much of a problem," Nimueh cackled.

Another fireball shot at Merlin and it engulfed him in an inferno.

Gwen cried out in shock, Morgana screamed, Uther paled and both Lara and Arthur shouted "Merlin!"

The fire vanished to reveal the warlock standing in the same place, unfazed by the assault. Merlin raised his sword.

"Let's finish this."

Arthur looked sideways at his father. Uther was looking enraged.

Merlin and Nimueh lunged at each other simultaneously, their weapons clashing together, Merlin's sword singing.

"You shouldn't have possessed me, Nimueh. All of those enchantments that improved my sword-skills stayed in my head."

Nimueh didn't answer but shoved him away and they circled each other like wolves.

"Why do you side with people who would hunt you and kill you Merlin? You could be even more powerful than you are now," Nimueh panted.

"I don't want that and I never will. I'm meant to defend Camelot and the future king. Arthur is going to be a great king one day and that is something worth dying for," Merlin said.

Gwen's sword sprang from the ground and into Nimueh's hand as she once again engaged with Merlin. Their fight soon reached the epitome of desperation. Neither of them seemed to be winning.

Lybra had meanwhile scampered over to the injured party.

"We're fine Lybra. You need to help Merlin," Lara whispered.

"He told me to stay out of it. He doesn't want anyone else to get hurt," Lybra sniffed.

At that moment, Nimueh swiped with both swords at the Sidhe staff and it went clattering to the floor, landing inches from the fire. Merlin's face became drawn. A crunching noise reverberated around the yard as large slabs of rock rose from the cobbled ground. Nimueh shot out of the way as they hurtled at the warlock. However, the rocks met an invisible barrier and they shattered into tiny particles of dust. As the cloud evaporated, Merlin reached back and held his hand out in a claw-like fashion towards the flames.

"Dragorn!" he bellowed.

A shape erupted from the fire, forming that of a monstrous dragon and it flew at Nimueh, swallowing her up. The fire soon died down, revealing an even angrier Nimueh. Merlin ran at her and brought his sword down at Nimueh's head, which she blocked.

The sorceress then decided to play dirty. One second she and Merlin were grappling then the next the warlock was kneeling, wheezing and grasping at his top.

"What are you doing?" Arthur shouted, attempting to stand but finding that he couldn't move his legs.

"Per l'amore di Dio, Nimueh, stop it!" Lara pleaded, shrilly.

Nimueh only stared intently at Merlin as he collapsed onto the ground and his breathing started to subside.

"Merlin!" Gwen shrieked, struggling against the spell that held them there.

A blur of gold flew at Nimueh. She lost her concentration and started to beat at the small dragon that was attacking her with tremendous ferocity.

It was all Merlin needed. He groped at his sword and shot into a kneeling position, thrusting the weapon straight through Nimueh's heart. He cried three words.

"Braegdan anweald gefelluec!"

There was a colossal bang and Nimueh exploded, sending out a golden rush of light that extinguished the fire and spread out over Camelot, snuffing out the life of every single Drow still standing.

The small huddle of people stared at Merlin as he slumped onto his side, dropping what was left of the burnished sword, his eyes closing from exhaustion and his breathing all but stopped.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18- Saving the prosecuted

"Merlin?"

Lara was the first to reach the fallen warlock and she shook him with one hand and felt his brow with the other. Her face was a mask of fear.

"Arthur, get him to Gaius. I need to find someone," she whispered to the prince as he dropped down beside her.

Morgana, Gwen and Lybra followed as Arthur struggled to carry Merlin towards the castle. Out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw that his father was staring after them, a livid expression on his face. Merlin was in serious trouble and Arthur knew that even he may not be able to help him. When he looked at Gwen he saw that her face was set in a fierce determination. He could tell that she wasn't angry, especially with Merlin, but it seemed that she could guess what may, or may not, happen.

This time the door to Gaius' room was wide open and as they entered they saw the old man at the table, head in hands.

Arthur laid Merlin drunkenly on the bed and then collapsed back into a chair. Morgana grabbed a bucket of water and daubed at the back of his head whilst Gwen knelt by the warlock and Lybra landed on the table by the bed. Gaius had rose and was bending over Merlin.

"This is becoming a bit of a habit," Arthur said, wincing at the pain in the back of his head.

"What happened?" Gaius asked, his voice bleak.

"First, I want to know how you could let him out," Arthur growled, flaring up.

"Arthur," Morgana sighed.

"And I want to know why..." he continued, turning on her and Gwen. "... why you joined the fight in the first place."

"Arthur, we couldn't leave Camelot. It's our home and we have a right to defend it as much as you have," Morgana said in an agonised voice.

Arthur couldn't think of an argument to her words so he turned back to Gaius.

"I think he used magic to get out. He was saying something about Nimueh being a wraith. There's only one way to kill a wraith," Gaius explained whilst checking Merlin's pulse.

"How?"

"By stabbing them with a sword burnished by a dragon," Lybra sniffed distastefully. "Magic can only be cured or stopped by magic. Or at least in most cases."

"But why did he have to go and expose himself? He could have just given the sword to me," Arthur groaned disbelievingly.

"By the time we burnished the damn thing, the battle had already started," the dragon huffed. "And it's his destiny to protect you and make sure you become king and not just let you stick your head into trouble all the time."

Arthur raised his eyebrows in surprise. Gwen cocked her head and Morgana's face darkened into a frown.

"What she means is that it was prophesised centuries ago that the young warlock would ensure that the rule of the Once and Future King would commence," someone hissed softly from the door.

The pale seamstress was standing in the doorway, her face gaunt and serious.

"Eleanor, what are you doing here?" Gaius said, straightening to face the newcomer.

"A certain friend of yours found me and said you may want me to check something. Judging by the look of the boy, they were right."

Lybra spat out a carrying hiss as if a monster had entered the room. Eleanor let out a high laugh.

"Blimey you dragons never change. You've been suspicious of my kind for millennia," she tittered.

"Your kind?" Morgana queried.

"I'm a Sidhe."

At once Arthur drew back against the wall, taking Morgana, who dropped the cloth she had been using on Arthur's head, and Gwen with him. Gaius scowled at them.

"Eleanor left Avalon of her own free will," he told them. "She's not going to kill anyone to regain entrance or anything like that."

"I got tired of living underwater. I needed a change of scenery," Eleanor joked.

"So you're still immortal?" Arthur grunted.

"For my sins."

"First dragons then Drows and now another Sidhe. What next, a vampire?" Arthur grumbled.

"Arthur stop it," Morgana scolded. She then turned back to Eleanor, moving away from Arthur, as did Gwen. "Thank you for the powder by the way, it saved our lives... twice. It saved Merlin's too from what the Sisterhood wanted to do to him."

"Powder? Sisterhood?" Lybra asked, looking at Gaius. Surely he would know about such things. He didn't disappoint.

"Powder... as in the type that the Sidhe make?" he asked Eleanor. She nodded.

"Can someone tell me what everyone is on about!" Arthur shouted.

Lybra rolled her eyes.

"You're not the only one who wants to know what they're going on about Arthur, but it doesn't mean you have to shout," she said.

"My people made this powder. When it was set on fire it would cause an explosion depending on how much powder there was," Eleanor explained.

"And what is this Sisterhood that tried to kill Merlin? I swear if I get my claws on them I'll-"

"You can't, Lybra, they're dead. They were killed by the explosion whilst they were trying to complete this enchantment that would kill Merlin," Gwen interrupted her. "So were the Chimeras."

"Enough talk I think, I need to see what's happened to Emrys here," Eleanor said, walking over to the unconscious warlock. She leant close and twitched her nose as if smelling something.

"Why did you just call Merlin Emrys" Gwen asked looking from Eleanor to Gaius.

"It's what most magical beings know young Merlin as," the seamstress said quickly.

What she did next befuddled Arthur, Morgana and Gwen so much that they looked at each other, all three wondering if she was mad. She had positioned her nose over Merlin's chest and gave a very audible sniff and her eyes glowed red. A grimace crossed her beatific face and she withdrew.

"Nimueh's magic, though it's not as serious as it may look. He's just ridding himself of her curse and that confounded _Draconis Coniectura_. It smells like sour olives in my opinion."

"Confounded to you maybe..." Lybra muttered. Eleanor ignored her and continued.

"The curse started to wane when he killed her, which is good. These things don't usually leave a person's soul. He should be fine... unless Uther gets his hands on him." She looked at Gaius.

"He's going to have to get through me first," Lybra growled.

"And me."

Everyone turned to see a figure standing in the doorway, coated in shadows. Only Eleanor seemed to know who it was.

"I wandered when you were going to get here," she said.

"I was keeping an eye on Uther. He won't be long now."

The female voice carried across the room and Gaius stepped backwards in shock, knocking over several glass jars in the process.

"No," he breathed.

Lara stepped forward into the light, her glossy raven hair dancing about her pale face and the blue eyes swirling with different emotions. She was still in the deep green battle ensemble.

"You... you... oh dear God, you..." Gaius stuttered.

"Hello Gaius," she whispered, her voice cracking.

She almost ran at the old physician and hugged him. Gaius' reaction was immediate. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. Both were crying.

"You're alive," Gaius murmured, sounding incredibly thankful.

"Obviously," Lara giggled through her tears, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

A sudden pounding of footsteps alerted them all to the approaching storm of trouble. Lara slipped out of Gaius' embrace and positioned herself between Merlin and the door. Arthur sat back down in his chair whilst Morgana stood next to Eleanor and Gwen went to kneel once more by the warlock.

Uther came thundering into the room, his face screwed up in fury. He drew his sword and advanced slowly on Lara and, behind her, Merlin.

"Don't you dare Uther Pendragon," she said in a dangerous whisper.

"It's not a case of what I dare, Lara. That boy is a sorcerer and judging by what he just displayed, a powerful one. He could have killed Arthur at any time," Uther spat. "It's bad enough that I made him Arthur's manservant.

"Uther, I now know why Tristan called you a prat," Lara cried. At this Arthur looked up surprised and Morgana and Gwen both had to stifle smiles. Gaius raised his eyebrows. "You are practically blind. Did you not just see Merlin... kill Nimueh? He actually declared for the entire world to hear that he's loyal to Arthur, Camelot and, possibly as an extension, you. None of the temptations of power have won over him. He's almost died for Arthur on some occasions after saving his neck and he's saved yours as well."

Uther seemed taken aback by this statement but recovered quickly.

"The laws change for no one. A powerful sorcerer like him is too dangerous to be allowed to live."

Arthur rose out of the chair, shaking in anger.

"Father, Merlin isn't a sorcerer. He's a warlock and he can't help using magic. If he didn't it would be like cutting off part of himself."

"You know?" Uther said. "You should have told me."

"Father, he's saved my life and Camelot who knows how many times. He took a dagger for me. And whilst we're on the subject of telling people what they should tell them..."

Arthur then broke into a furious tirade, shouting at the top of his voice at his father, yelling about how Uther had kept the truth about how he was born from him all of his life, making him think that he had killed his own mother when Uther had asked magic for help in conceiving a child. He then shouted at his father about how unfair Uther's prosecution on magic had been totally uncalled for and how he had gone as far as killing his own family. He ranted on for what felt like hours, sometimes using language that he usually wouldn't have dared to use in front of anyone in this room, apart from maybe Merlin. When he had finished, Uther turned to glare at Gaius.

"I take it you knew about this too Gaius?"

Gaius nodded.

"He's no danger to Camelot sire. He protects everyone here."

"But he may turn on us one day. It is a vulnerability that I do not want to risk," Uther mused.

"Listen to yourself," Morgana said. "Even after what Arthur shouted at you, you're still trying to find any excuse to kill Merlin and it's like you don't care who you hurt doing so."

"He's as dangerous, as you put it, as me Uther," Eleanor cut in. "You've known what I am for years yet you do not kill me. For all you know, I could one day decide to kill off half of the kingdom with a snap of my fingers."

"I know you Eleanor. You value the life of humans too much and I know that you haven't used magic for years."

"Why should Merlin be any different?" Lara almost shrieked. "He values the life of others as much as any of us. He isn't some mindless murderer. He has feelings, memories and a future."

"He's only let Eleanor live because Igraine was her friend. Igraine made Uther promise never to kill her," Gaius muttered. Uther shot him a filthy look.

"Not only that but this... boy deals with dragons. That shows he may be capable-"

"Capable of what, Pendragon?" Lybra snarled from the table by Merlin's bedside. "We dragons may look dangerous but we do not trample around the kingdoms, destroying whoever or whatever we meet."

She growled and the noise sounded like a building clap of thunder.

"If you're not going to listen to listen to us, I know someone who might convince you."

She jumped into the air, leaving deep groove marks in the table.

The dragon glided into Merlin's room and there was a gentle rustling noise before Lybra re-entered, bringing with her a large rectangular object that she could, clearly, only just carry. The object was hidden beneath a long and thin blanket. After glaring furtively at all of them, she leant it against the wall, flopped to the floor and tugged at the blanket, which tumbled into a pile.

The reaction to what they saw was apocalyptically quick. Gaius dropped a vile he had been holding, shattering amongst the rest of the wreckage, and his jaw fell wide open; Lara's hands snapped to her mouth as she screamed; Uther had to lean on his sword for support and his face became ashen and ill-looking; Arthur tried to push himself back away from the cause of everyone's shock but only succeeded in falling backwards over his chair; Morgana's eyes widened and she stiffened; Eleanor hissed in fright; and Gwen drew protectively closer to Merlin's unconscious form.

The image of Igraine was still standing in the mirror and in the background was the physician's room instead of Merlin's. She seemed amused by their reactions and placed her hands on her hips.

"What is this?" Uther roared, eyes popping as he turned to Lara. "Are you trying to be funny?"

Lybra growled again, pawing the ground in indignation.

"No one here did this darling," Igraine said, smiling sweetly. "I think it's called astral apparition." She looked at her son. "Hello Arthur."

Arthur stared longingly at his mother, his emotions in turmoil.

"I heard you shouting at your father a minute ago," she laughed. "Some of your language would make both your uncles proud."

"Why are you here?" Lara choked.

"I'm here to make sure the remainders of my family don't destroy each other anymore," Igraine replied meaningfully.

"Which may be a bit difficult Ig, considering what a prat Uther can be," a deep voice echoed out of the mirror. Igraine turned around, her smile widening.

"You two took your time."

Two shadowy figures came forwards in the mirror, their features becoming clearer and more defined as they moved to stand beside Igraine.

"You know us sis," another voice snickered. "Always late for everything."

"Unless the rest of us made you get a move on," Igraine retorted.

As the two stopped, the mist lifted to reveal two men, a scruffy blonde and an incredibly dark brown haired man. Arthur remembered their pictures from the cave. These men were undoubtedly Æbald and Tristan.

Lara, Gaius and Uther all looked shocked at the additions in the mirror.

"Where's your Arthur Ig?" Æbald asked, craning his neck to take in the entire room. He spotted Arthur, who had returned to his feet. He grinned triumphantly.

"Pay up Tris, He does look almost exactly like Ig."

"You two and your gambling, and we're supposed to be dead," Igraine groaned, eyeing them disapprovingly. "We're meant to be stopping my husband from killing the warlock."

Æbald rolled his eyes.

"Sorry Ig, you're right," Tristan mumbled.

He looked Uther straight in the eye.

"I don't know if you know this Uther but that boy was born to protect Arthur. If you kill him, you condemn your entire kingdom."

Uther shot a fleeting look at Merlin.

"He could still be a threat," Uther argued again.

"Sweetheart, magic isn't all bad. We wanted a child and magic helped. I was willing to die for my child. It's no one's fault that I did die. Nobody wanted me to and definitely not Lara or Nimueh," Igraine said. "The magic just got too much for Nimueh and her grief. She became insane and evil because you had also let your grief control you. You're not entirely to blame for all that's happened; you just got carried away. Magic depends on how people use it. Lara tried to save me, did she not, and Merlin has only used his powers for good and to save Camelot."

"And if you kill Merlin, you'd be killing more family," Æbald burst out.

At this, Igraine slapped his shoulder. Tristan folded his arms.

"Æbald, you and your big mouth," he grumbled.

Lara had hung her head.

"Family?" Arthur said disbelievingly.

"How is that possible?" Uther muttered.

"Lara, explain," Igraine sighed, looking at her younger sister.

Everyone turned to her. She continued to stare at the floor.

"What does she mean Lara?" Eleanor asked, frowning.

"He's my son," Lara mumbled.

"What!" Gaius and Uther shouted.

Arthur, Morgana and Gwen were busy looking Merlin and Lara, comparing their appearances. Lybra was sitting dumbstruck on the floor.

"But he's Hunith's son," Gaius said.

"Gaius," Lara gulped, her breathing deepening. "Hunith is Merlin's aunt."

Gaius leant against the table.

"He's your son."

"Oh God," Gaius whispered. "That night... when you came to tell Igraine about your aunt."

"So that makes Merlin... my cousin?" Arthur said, sinking back into his chair. He stared at his manservant, his friend. It seemed so odd.

"That's not all is it Lara," Æbald said, cheekily.

"Dio! Wait for one fact to sink in before we tell them the other thing," Tristan growled. "You really don't think before you speak, Æbald. You want to help with things but you have a loose tongue."

"I can't do the helping thing now Tris. I'm dead."

"So am I but we're trying to help our nephew here."

"You two, stop it!" Igraine scolded. "With your arguing, you're as bad as Arthur and Merlin." She smiled at her son, pride and sadness in her eyes.

"What is this 'other thing'?" Lybra groaned. "You might as well say he has a twin."

Lara scrunched her eyes shut in a pained expression and her siblings in the mirror either bit their lips or looked awkwardly in different directions. Æbald actually whistled.

"Merlin has a twin?" Gwen asked.

"They run in the family," Lara muttered. "There have been exceptions, like Arthur, but the majority were twins."

"Who is it?" Gaius said, shakily. Lara's eyes roved over everyone, finally coming to rest... on Morgana.

"Impossible," Uther cried, looking from Morgana to Lara. "Gorlois and Katrina were Morgana's parents."

"You remember our Aunt Naevia, Uther," Tristan said. "Doesn't Morgana look a bit like her?"

"Naevia was blonde," Eleanor scrutinized.

"But Morgana isn't a witch," Uther shot at Lara. Silence met this.

"I set a table on fire this morning without touching it after I had a dream. I also burnt a group of those Drows when they tried to kill us and I hadn't even lit a fire. Then I made the powder that Eleanor gave us explode," Morgana admitted. "Merlin said that Nimueh had told him that I was a witch and a seer."

"The point is," Igraine interrupted. "Merlin must live or this kingdom will be destroyed."

She looked at her husband, a powerful emotion in her gaze.

"I don't blame anyone for my choice, especially you, Nimueh or Lara. Just, please, don't make things worse. Your grief and rage are turning people against you as well as blinding you."

Uther didn't speak but closed his eyes in a prolonged blink.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. He turned to the door and marched out, a dead look on his face.

"He'll be back," Eleanor said, bracingly. A brief silence filled the room before she spoke again. "Well that was rather enlightening." Nobody replied. Half of them were still in shock.


	20. Chapter 20

**As always, thanks for the reviews and I hope you enjoy the last few chapters of this fic.**

Chapter 19- A family truth

Morgana walked through the room, ignoring the mirror with Arthur talking to the occupants, and entered Merlin's room where Gaius and Lara were standing around awkwardly. Gwen was kneeling beside Merlin, who was still unconscious and recovering from the fight.

"He's still brooding in his chambers, deciding what to do next I reckon," Morgana told them, moving away from the doorway. "No change? " Lara and Gaius shook their heads simultaneously.

"I don't think I've ever been so annoyed with _Draconis Coniectura _before," Lara joked, half-heartedly.

"Can I ask you something? " Morgana said to Lara. "Why did you separate me and Merlin and give us to different families? "

Lara bit her lip and folded her hands over her stomach.

"When I found out I was pregnant I had a vision. I saw Camelot with you, Merlin, Arthur and Gwen vanquishing oncoming shadows. But that was when Uther came for me and I decided to give you up and separate you for your own safety," she sighed.

"But everyone thought you were dead. Surely you could have looked after them? " Gaius pointed out.

"What mother would want their children to live in hiding? For all we know, Uther may have found out I was alive with children and put a price on their heads," Lara cried, stressfully. "What would you have done if you had found out that I was still alive, Gaius, with our children constantly running from Uther, hunted because of who they are? " She took a few deep breaths before Gaius walked up to her, drawing her close.

"I would have done anything that was necessary and more," he muttered.

"Sorry," Lara said. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm feeling crabby and my magic is being useless at the moment. Uther still hasn't decided what he's going to do about any of this and I... I..." She leant heavily against Gaius, her eyes drifting to the table.

"Hey, you gave Merlin my book," she said, merrily, reaching with one arm to stroke the book's cover. "You remembered the letter."

"Pardon? " Morgana queried. Gaius smiled at her.

"Before your mother disappeared, she sent me a letter explaining to me that one day a boy with great power would come to Camelot and that I was to give him that book when he became a man, the day he came of age."

"Actually it was afterwards. Æbald only made it look like it had been there for months," Lara chuckled. Gaius raised a sarcastic eyebrow.

Lara slid the book off the table and passed it to Morgana.

"Have a look, sweetheart. You have just as much right as Merlin."

The king's ward opened it and flicked through the aged pages briefly. After a few seconds, she balanced the book on the edge of the bed and promptly hugged her newfound mother. A sense of completeness filled her heart and it strengthened still when Gaius eyed Lara and he joined the family embrace.

Gwen watched as the three shared a long moment and she remembered when she and her parents had done the same when they had both still been alive.

Merlin was standing in a large bedroom, filled with the bright orange sunset shining through a glass-less window, a gentle breeze ruffling the bed's curtains and sheets.

It was then he noticed a woman sitting on the bed, head in her arms and sobbing. Merlin went over to her and tried to comfort her but he met an invisible barrier that prevented him from approaching her.

"Lara? " someone said from the door.

Lara lifted her head and wiped her wet eyes with a sleeve of her dress. Her gaze fell on the blonde man that was her brother, Æbald.

"You need to go outside sometime. Ig wouldn't want you to lock yourself away in your room for the rest of your life," he said, darkly, walking to the bed and seating himself next to her.

"It's my fault she's-"

"Oh shut up sis," Æbald scolded. "It is not your fault she's dead. You warned Nimueh there would be consequences if she meddled with nature. And is it so bad that Uther and Ig wanted a child? "

"No but because of our mistakes Uther is prosecuting magic and killing our people. Nim and Tris haven't come home yet either," Lara sobbed.

"Father says that Tris has gone travelling. At least, that's what Gorlois told him."

"Gorlois has seen him? "

"Yeah, apparently Tris stopped at Tintagel for a few days." Lara sniffed.

"I hope he's alright."

"He'll be fine, he always is."

"What about Nimueh? " Lara asked, looking at her brother, hopefully.

"Still no word," he told her.

The young sorceress gave a heavy sigh and stood. She then went poker-still.

"Lara? What's wrong? "

She didn't reply but continued to stare around blindly, her eyes a swirling gold colour.

"Lara what do you see? " Æbald asked in a panic. She still didn't reply. "Father! Something's happening to Lara!"

Someone came barging into the room and a man with bristly grey hair and green eyes, like emeralds, grabbed Lara gently by the shoulders.

"Sweetheart, what are you seeing? "

"Shadows," Lara whispered. "The whole world's covered in shadows." She then closed her eyes and covered them with her arms.

"What now? " her father said, still gripping her shoulders.

"There's a light," she groaned. "It's blinding. There are four figures driving the shadows away with the light." She opened her eyes again at stared past her father into space. Her hands flew to her stomach and after a few more seconds a look of shock and joy appeared on her face.

"Dio." The gold light vanished from the woman's eyes and she sank back onto the bed, her hands still caressing her stomach.

"Lara, what is it? " Æbald said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What's going to happen? What did you see? "

"I saw Arthur," she murmured.

"Ig's son? " Æbald asked. Lara rolled her eyes.

"No, Arthur the butcher's nephew. Of course Ig's son, how many other Arthurs do we know? "

"What else was there? " their father said, calmly.

"There was a girl. She reminded me of Tom the blacksmith," Lara replied. "And there were two others, a man and a woman. They could both use magic but the woman was more of a seer and the man... was..."

"The man was what? "

"He was a warlock. He was born with his magic and he was protecting Arthur. The strange thing was that he looked right at me and then I felt something move inside of me and then he nodded then he motioned with his head at the woman who was a seer."

"WHAT!" Æbald swatted her hands away and pressed one of his gingerly on her stomach. "Oh God! Lara, you're pregnant! There's a lump."

"What did the man look like? " the older man asked.

"Tall... raven coloured hair and blue eyes. From what I could see he was wearing something around his neck. A red neckerchief, I think." Merlin felt as if the ground had fallen away from under his feet as he realised where this was going. The man Lara had seen had been him and he had nodded the moment that she had discovered that she was pregnant. That could only mean...

"Who's the father sweetheart? " Lara's father asked. The sorceress hung her head. "Is it Gaius? "

Æbald froze in anger as his sister looked up guiltily at their father.

"How did you..."

"I've seen the way you two have been looking at each other for the last few months. It's quite obvious you like each other." The man smiled.

"Gaius has gone and gotten my little sister pregnant? " Æbald exploded. "That's just wrong! He's Nim's age for crying out loud!"

"I'm only a few minutes younger than you ," Lara said, indignantly.

"That's not the point," Æbald shouted. "Gaius is fifteen years older than you, Lara." He stood up and made to leave. "I'm going to knock his block off!"

Just then, Lara shrieked and Æbald turned away from the door. Once more, her eyes had turned gold yet this time she was shaking.

"Oh no!" she cried.

"What now? " Æbald huffed.

"Uther's coming for me."

"Per l'amore di Pietro," their father swore. "Lara, is your dragon reading your thoughts? "

"No, we've blocked the link because he doesn't want me to have to listen to him hunting. Why? Shouldn't we be getting out of here? "

The old man gritted his teeth

"Lara, I'm going to ask you to do something. I'm going to ask you to break your bond with your dragon."

"What? " Lara breathed, her face a mask of terror, as if what her father had just said was the ultimate taboo.

"Listen to me. The only way you and your child-"

"Children," Lara corrected. "The other woman was my child as well."

"Figures," Æbald muttered. "Twins run in the family."

"Anyway," their father continued in a rush. "If Camelot and Arthur are to survive, you must hide from everyone, even the ones you love."

"Why are Camelot and Arthur suddenly so important? " Æbald growled. "This is about Lara and her children."

Their father closed his eyes in anguish.

"Before your mother died, all those years ago, she told me that Lara's legacy would one day save Camelot and the Once and Future King. I now realise that she meant that Lara's bloodline would protect Igraine's otherwise many innocent lives would be lost. This is because Uther's brutality will result in magical rebellion and many will try to take revenge by killing his only heir."

"Father, you are asking me to destroy part of myself," Lara said, tearfully.

"I'm so sorry Lara but if Uther thinks you escaped then he will hunt you and your children until you are all dead."

A tear ran down the sorceress' cheek.

"Alright, I'll do it," she whispered. "But right now I think we should all get out of here."

"You two are. I need to stay behind and reduce suspicion. If we all left, he would still think we were all alive," their father said.

"NO!" the twins shouted in unison.

"I will not change my mind. I have lived my life and I want to save what remains of my family."

"Father, please," Lara begged. The man turned to his son.

"Æbald get her out of here and run. Keep her safe, no matter what. And above all, don't let anyone know you are alive, not even Nimueh or Tristan."

Æbald nodded hesitantly and helped his sister off the bed and tugged her out of the room. Merlin followed.

"I love you both," their father called after them.

"No!" Lara shouted. "Let me go Æbald. We can't just leave him."

"Are you going to use magic on me sis? " he grunted, his eyes oddly watery. "'Cause I'm not letting you go."

"Father," Lara shrieked as her brother led her out of the house and into a clump of trees a small distance away. She then wilted and began to cry, leaning against Æbald. "When do you think I should break the link? "

"Whenever you think the time is right, Lara," he replied, hugging her.

As the sun sank behind the hills and the sky grew dark, they heard the sounds of approaching horses and minutes later there was an explosion of fire as the house was set alight.

Lara screamed and Æbald yanked his sword out of its sheath, starting to run at the house. However, Lara grabbed him.

"We can't help him," she choked. She then slid to the ground and broke into a fresh bout of tears, gritting her teeth.

A loud roar echoed throughout the land, anguished and furious.

Merlin felt numb with shock as he watched the two siblings embrace in their pain and then he found himself in a small, rundown hut.

Lara was sitting on a stool made of a chopped log. Merlin realised that this must have been a few months later as her stomach was ballooning out.

A haggard looking Æbald suddenly came rushing in, removing a cloak to reveal his green armour that looked slightly worn. He was pale white.

"What's happened? Is Arthur alright? " Lara asked, clambering awkwardly to her feet. Æbald strode over to her and made her sit back down.

"There was a duel at Camelot today," he explained. "Tristan came back and he challenged Uther."

"What are you saying? "

"Tris challenged Uther to a duel to the death... and ... he..." Æbald placed his hands on his sister's arms, his eyes locking with hers. "I'm sorry Lara."

"Oh God! No!"

"I think he was trying to avenge Ig's death and ours. He looked pretty mad. He didn't see me though."

"No! I can't believe it! First mother, then Aunt Naevia, then Ig, then father and now Tristan. It's like the entire family is destined to die."

"Lara, don't say that. I'm still here, so are you and Nimueh's out there somewhere. Rufus is in Italy too."

"Bu they all think we're dead and I think Nimueh's turned."

"Meaning? "

"I saw Nim trying to destroy Camelot."

"She wouldn't."

"She's lost everyone Æbald and it's made her hateful and full of vengeance."

"Speaking of vengeance, I've found out what happened to Scales."

Lara's expression became fearful.

"He tried to rally the remainder of the dragons. They didn't go along with it so he headed for Camelot alone and he was captured. Uther had him imprisoned in the caves under the castle."

The woman's eyes closed and her hands clenched at her side.

"What about Gaius? "

"He's fine. Uther has let him carry on as physician as long as he doesn't use any magic. I slipped the book into his room."

"Thank heaven," Lara muttered. Her face then became agonized and her eyes opened. Her hands were on her heavily pregnant belly. "Æbald, the babies are coming."

Æbald swore as he picked up his sister and carried her to a bed at the side of the room.

The next few hours were slow and tense. All Merlin could do was watch as the knight busied himself with some tools he had drawn from a bag. Lara asked him where he had acquired them and he told her that he had taken them from Gaius' room.

Now Lara was bathed in sweat, trying not to scream as the first baby crowned.

"Alright Lara, the baby's almost out, just one more big push," Æbald shouted, hoarsely. As he backed away holding the small, pale body he cut off the umbilical cord and grabbed at a nearby blanket, wrapping it around the baby, who had started to cry shrilly.

"It's a boy," he said, handing Lara the bundle. "Be quick, the other kid's coming soon."

Lara laughed and began to croon over the boy. He soon stopped crying.

"Hello there," she whispered. "My little Emrys."

"Is that what you're going to call him? " Æbald asked.

"No silly," Lara giggled. "It's one of the names legends call him."

"Then what? Please, dear God, don't name him after Gaius."

"You really know how to take the mickey, don't you," Lara retorted. "His name is..." Her eyes glowed gold and her smile widened. .".. Merlin."

"That blows it, a bird," Æbald snorted.

"Oh stop teasing you..." She trailed off as she stared across the room. Æbald turned around and they both watched as the stool Lara had been sitting on rose into the air and began to spin. A small giggling noise filled the room.

"Is he doing that? " Æbald blustered, looking back at his nephew. The baby's eyes were flashing a honey coloured gold. Lara laughed again.

"Yes he is. I told you he was a warlock." Her body then stiffened.

"Um... Æbald, she's coming."

Æbald snatched the baby out of Lara's hands, placing him in a small wooden cradle that the older Merlin had just noticed. The stool fell back to the earth.

As the knight turned back to the sorceress, Merlin peered into the cradle. The baby had his mother's eyes and there was a tuft of raven hair on his head. The warlock felt another wave of shock. He was staring at himself as a baby.

Another wailing noise echoed in his ears and he looked up to see Æbald handing Lara the tiny Morgana.

"She has your eyes," Lara said, shakily. Æbald squinted at the tiny baby.

"Blimey, she does," he grunted. "She's quite a looker as well, for a baby." He sniggered at the indignant look Lara gave him. "So what's this one's name going to be? "

Lara's eyebrows knitted together in concentration.

"Morgana."

The baby Merlin suddenly whimpered and Æbald took him out of the cradle.

"I think someone wants his mummy," he said, handing Merlin to his sister, who shifted Morgana to one arm, taking the boy from Æbald with the other.

Now his hands were free, Æbald gave Lara a one armed hug, kissing her dark hair.

"Well done sis." He looked fondly at the children. "Morgana definitely looks a bit like Aunt Naevia but her hair is like Gaius'."

The older Merlin walked around the other side of the bed and looked at Morgana. It was true that her blue eyes were as pale as her uncle's and her slightly bristly hair was a deep mahogany colour.

"Merlin has your hair and eyes but I think he looks a lot like Gaius," Æbald continued. It was then he spotted Lara's tears. "What's wrong? "

"I can't raise them like this Æbald," she sighed. "They deserve a normal life, not one lived in fear and suspicion."

"What do you mean? Are you going to give them up? " he said, doubtfully. Lara nodded and tired to blink away her tears.

"Where would you take them? "

"I think... I think we need to give Merlin a home somewhere remote and to someone who wouldn't give him away to Uther, as his gifts aren't very concealable at this stage."

"Hang on; doesn't Hunith live in that village called Ealdor? "

"Yes, she moved there last year."

"Well we could give your little bird boy to her. She's practically family, isn't she? "

"Don't call him that. Lots of people are named after birds." Lara bit her lip in thought. "I think you're right. But what about Morgana? Her magic isn't as potent as Merlin's. Her main power is prophecy."

"Do you think Gorlois would take her in? I know he's a very good friend of Uther's but he was Tristan's best friend and we don't have to tell him about the magic."

Lara gave Æbald a glazed look.

"Æbald, could you take Morgana to Gorlois? You were closer to him than I was."

The knight gulped but gave her a strong nod. Lara swung her legs off the bed and stood.

"What? We're doing it know? "

"I think we should. I may not be strong enough to do it later."

"You're not strong enough now. You've just had two children, so you should rest."

"If we don't do it now, I may not be able to let them go."

Just then, both children started to cry and tears started to pour down Lara's face. Rocking them, she sang her beautiful lullaby and they soon drifted off to sleep. Merlin now knew where he had heard that song before.

As he watched, the two adults disappeared to be replaced with a huge reptile-like creature bearing down on a helmeted Æbald in a leaf-strewn clearing somewhere in a forest. The man was clutching at his sword.

The creature suddenly lunged at him and its fangs lashed at his side.

"NO!"

Lara came running towards her brother, her face stricken with terror and anger. Merlin watched as she shot a beam of energy out of her hand, which smote the creature and it crashed to the floor, dead.

Æbald was gasping on the ground, his lips slowly turning blue. He had removed his helmet.

"Dio! No, please! Æbald don't do this!" Lara cried, dropping down and placing her brother's head in her lap.

"I can't do anything sis," he wheezed, smiling weakly. "You don't need to worry about Morgana, I got her to Tintagel. Gorlois and Katrina think I found her abandoned in a forest. They don't know anything about you and they promised not to tell Uther about me."

"They're good people. Hunith vowed in Celtic that she wouldn't tell anyone about me and she knows about Merlin's gifts, owing to the fact that he levitated three hams and her table all at once. She thinks I found him too."

"Hopefully she won't realize how much he resembles Gaius," Æbald laughed but he immediately groaned in pain. Lara stretched her hand out over the creature's bite but Æbald grabbed it.

"Are you going to use magic on me sis. 'Cause I'm not letting you go."

The sorceress smiled at him as she remembered the other time he had said this.

"You need me to heal you, idiot," she whispered, pleadingly.

"You know what that creature was Lara. Salamanders have the power of life and death."

"Yes of course I know."

"Then you know that someone would have to die for me. I refuse to cause the death of an innocent person, someone I may not even know."

"Please don't leave me alone."

"You wouldn't be alone for long. I can tell that one day you and your kids will be reunited."

"How do you know? It may never happen."

"I think it's some sort of sixth sense. Just think about something happy and the time will fly by. And there's no need to be so pessimistic, of course you'll see them again."

"I've lost so many Æbald; I don't want to lose you to."

"Well it's my own fault for coming across that bloomin' Salamander in the first place. Some people were about to get eaten and they ran off as soon as I appeared."

"You always had a self-sacrificing thing."

"It's finally caught up with me." Æbald grimaced and the blue around his lips started to spread across his face. "I guess this is it Lara."

"You really are an idiot."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"I love you Æbald."

"Same here sis. I'll say hello from you to everyone shall I? "

"You can."

Æbald's breathing became more frantic.

"Lara, until the time is right don't let anyone know you're alive," he said, seriously. "It could have serious repercussions. And whatever you do, don't turn evil like Nim, or when you're in _your _grave I'll kill you."

"Thanks."

"No problem. Love you," he whispered. The man's breathing suddenly stopped and his eyes shut with a scary finality.

A silence filled the clearing that chilled Merlin to the bone. It was broken by Lara sob's as she cradled the body of her dead brother.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 20- Endings

A single candle burnt on the table, illuminating the room in the flame's dull glow. The shadows lengthened as the candle slowly shortened and the hours crawled by.

On the bed, Merlin lay like a breathing statue, his rising chest marking the seconds. Gwen was alone with the warlock, waiting and waiting diligently for him to wake and give her one of his huge grins, his eyes flashing devilishly.

Gwen spent most of her time assessing her feelings, coming to terms with them. There was the fact that there was no doubt on earth that Merlin was a warlock, or whatever the others said, and that magic was a part of his being. There was also no point in denying that she...

The maid closed her eyes briefly, rubbing them with fatigue. Once more staring at Merlin, she did something that reminded her exactly like when Merlin had been cursed.

"I think it's lucky that Uther hasn't decided what to do. The queen gave quite a good argument and everyone's still surprised about you and Morgana being Lara's children." Gwen bit her lip, pondering what to say next.

"When you were cursed and stabbed, I was scared. Not scared of what may happen with the sorceress or anything, I was scared that I'd lose my friend, although I've counted you as more than a friend for a while now." She took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that... I love you... I love you." Gwen repeated the words only just realising how right they sounded. Her heart pounded almost painfully against her chest, her ears throbbed and her hands ached.

Then someone broke the silence.

"Gwen," they whispered. She stared as Merlin muttered her name. Apart from that he was still.

"Merlin, please wake up," Gwen said, bending over him. She felt her lips touch his dry and chapped ones but she didn't care. Closing her eyes in sad pleasure, Gwen kissed him.

Unnoticed by her, Merlin's eyes had flickered open, yet again flashing with brilliant gold. He lifted his hands up to caress her face and responded to her gentle kiss. Gwen's eyes snapped back open in surprise. She quickly withdrew, her breathing faster than normal as she gazed apologetically at the warlock.

In a flash, she was in his arms and he was kissing her fiercely. After a few seconds, but what felt like forever, he stopped and they held their heads together.

"I love you too," Merlin told her. "Thank you."

Gwen turned her head towards the door.

"He's awake!" she called.

In the other room there was rustling and the rush of footsteps. The door burst open revealing the expectant faces of Gaius, Arthur, Morgana and Lara.

The sorceress took one look at him before she strode over to the bed.

"Oh thank God," she breathed, wrapping Merlin in a protective embrace.

"Mother? "

A stunned silence filled the room as Lara stared at the warlock in shock.

"How do you know? " Gaius asked, frowning slightly. "Was it more of the _Draconis Coniectura_? "

"Forget that, he's awake," Arthur guffawed. "Lybra get in here."

A pattering of talons on floor came from the physician's room and a small golden body bounded in and flew at Merlin. Within seconds Lybra was licking his face. Soon the dragon spoke over everyone's laughter.

"You are an idiot. I tell you to never risk your neck like that again and you go and expose yourself. To top it all, Nimueh could have killed you," she growled.

"You were the one who flew at her face," Merlin retorted. He then pushed her away as he made to stand but as soon as he tried Arthur had his hands on his shoulders.

"Don't even think about it. I don't think we want you fainting, again."

Merlin gave him an exasperated look then turned to Gaius and Morgana. The king's ward stepped away from the doorway, strode over to him and hugged him. Merlin felt suddenly protective of Morgana, more than likely because they now he knew he had a sister.

He stared over her shoulder as Lara moved back towards. The old man draped an arm around the sorceress' waist. They both smiled at the four friends and the dragon.

"Oi, you lot in there, are you deaf? " a male voice called. Everyone jumped and turned back to the door.

"I'll go and get them," Lara said, biting her lip, trying to contain her laughter.

"What's going on? " Merlin asked, his eyebrows creasing together.

"You remember my mother don't you Merlin? " Arthur replied, gesturing as Lara brought in the tall mirror. The warlock's eyes widened at what he saw.

"Tris, that's twice you've lost a bet now, pay up bro," the blond Æbald teased. "Merlin has Lara's eyes as well."

"Oh shut up Baldy, bets are the least of our worries at the moment," Igraine retorted, scornfully.

"Ig, how many times have I told you not to call me that," Æbald growled. "If I was bald then what do you call this? " he pointed at his ruffled crop of hair.

"And you said Æbald and me arguing was bad, Ig," Tristan said, stopping his twin from continuing the banter. "I think this lot are getting bored." He gave his younger brother a meaningful look and mouthed words at him, which looked suspiciously like "_I'll pay you later_."

"Hello again Merlin," Igraine said, smiling widely. "Well done by the way, and I'm sorry that my husband tried to kill you."

Merlin raised his eyebrows in confusion, his expression startled.

"God knows what he's going to do," Tristan said, matter-of-factly. "Ig was brilliant and we all know that Uther listens to her. I think he's still in shock that you're his nephew and his ward's brother."

"It's still got me creeped out," Arthur exclaimed, heatedly. "My manservant is my cousin, who just happens to be an all powerful warlock and has saved my life and the kingdom so many times whilst managing to make himself look like an idiot."

"Thanks Arthur," Merlin muttered as the others around him tittered in amusement. The warlock watched the mirror as Æbald looked out at his sister.

"Lara, I know that look; what's wrong? " the man asked, one eyebrow arching dramatically upwards. Everyone turned simultaneously to face the sorceress. She was looking at her son as if scrutinizing him, now staring deep into his eyes.

"I just don't understand," she said, slowly. "Scales didn't know about me being pregnant or running away from Uther as we'd blocked the link and then I broke it. So how come Merlin knows about all of this through _Draconis Coniectura_? "

"Maybe... the link didn't break properly and some of your memories leaked through... or something like that," Arthur speculated.

"Not likely Arthur," Lybra said. "I have only recently hatched but I know that if the link is broken it is broken forever, as if you have lopped off a part of your body and you can't stitch it back on." At this she drew closer to Merlin, sniffing distastefully.

"How would you break the bond? " Igraine asked. "No one has ever told me."

"By rejecting them as your kin," Lara, Merlin and Lybra said in unison. Everyone looked at them as Lara gave her son an appraising yet sad look.

"And it hurts beyond belief," she finished.

"Dragons are incredibly powerful magical creatures," Gaius said, thoughtfully. "Do you think that he could have been telling Merlin about what happened, things that he now knew because he's dead and has become aware of everything in spirit? " He was looking at Lara, who then placed her hands on her hips, brow furrowing in thought.

"So is that counting as cheating death? " Morgana asked.

"Typical, just typical," Æbald snorted. "That dragon always cheated when we played hide-and-seek with him as kids, remember; and now he's cheating death."

"It's no one's fault if you were rubbish at hiding, bro. Scales had wings and you never bothered to make sure that you couldn't be seen via bird's-eye view," Tristan shot back, his voice layered with sarcasm.

"Argh, someone back me up here," Æbald growled, eyes roving around the room, stiffening when he looked at the bed. "San di Dio! Get a room you two."

All eyes fell on Merlin and Gwen. Arthur couldn't help snorting at the scene before them and Morgana tittered, smiling.

Gwen was in Merlin's arms once more and he had his chin on her head, rocking both of them backwards and forwards, slowly. When they realised that the others were watching, they just smiled gently.

"Oh boy and I thought it was bad enough at the thought of Lara and Gaius-"

"Yes, thanks Æbald. We don't need to get into specifics," Lara interrupted. Everybody laughed, Merlin throwing his head back as he joined in.

The door in the other room burst open and bounced off of the wall with a loud bang. Turning around, they saw Eleanor sprinting towards them.

"What's Uther doing, Eleanor? " Lara asked, sounding panicky.

"I think he's lost it. Either he's gone mad or he's finally seeing sense after all of this madness," the seamstress panted.

"What? "

"You'd need to see for yourself, it's something I never expected him to do," Eleanor replied, leaving the room. All of them followed her, including Merlin, who stumbled a bit as he stood.

As they all walked briskly into the courtyard, they saw a large crowd gathered underneath the balcony on which stood Uther, who was addressing everybody. What he was saying shocked the group beyond belief.

.".. I admit that I have been blinded by my own grief and have acted unfairly towards magic, blinded by what I lost and convincing myself that magic was to blame." He paused and looked at towards the group, which included Lybra. His gaze met Merlin's and he held it as he spoke again.

"I therefore abolish the laws against magic and shall henceforth only punish those who practice magic for evil. Otherwise magic can be freely practised."

At this, there was a rumbling noise as the crowd muttered to each other about what the king had just said. A couple of people whooped with joy but some looked slightly suspicious. Others looked over at Uther's family, staring at the small dragon at Merlin's feet.

Stunned, the group walked back to Gaius' chambers and entered silently. The three people in the mirror called to them and Merlin brought them out, still looking stunned. The mirror's occupants immediately hailed them with questions.

"What's happening? "

"What did Uther do? "

"He's not going to try and kill Merlin, Morgana and Lara, is he? "

However, their questions just lit a spark to what the group were feeling inside. One minute they were standing there, then the next they were jumping up and down, shrieking with happiness. Lybra blew a triumphant jet of fire into the air; Lara was yelling "Thank God" in both English and Italian as she rushed to hug Gaius and they swayed from side to side; Eleanor was laughing and bouncing on the balls of her feet, making an odd whistling noise; Arthur was bellowing at the top of his voice which made Morgana laugh as she embraced him; and finally Merlin and Gwen were in each other's arms and they were kissing, giggling all the while.

"He didn't, did he? " Æbald asked, disbelievingly.

"Yes he did," Lara cried, still hugging Gaius.

"What are you on about? " Tristan asked the twins, looking as if he was worried for everybody's sanity.

"Uther's gotten rid of the laws against magic," Eleanor explained, briefly pausing from making the whistling noise.

"You're joking," Igraine said, her mouth widening into a smile.

"Does it look like we are? " Lara replied, laughing.

After a split second, Igraine was copying her and clapping with delight; and Tristan had Æbald in a headlock and was ruffling his hair, much to Æbald's annoyance.

"What d'you know Æbald. Your big mouth payed off after all," Tristan roared with delight.

"I'll take that big mouth part as a compliment," Æbald muttered, managing to wrestle his older brother off himself.

A few minutes later, during which the time had been taken up by very loud celebration, there was a quiet rap on the door and Uther walked in. Silence filled the room.

"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting," he said, quite calmly. "But I want to speak to Merlin."

Everybody stared from the king to the warlock. There expressions were a mixture of emotions- suspicion, confusion and fear. Lara's eyes briefly flashed gold and she relaxed and she nodded at Uther.

"Can we go in there? " the king asked, motioning at the door to Merlin's room.

The warlock inclined his head and strode into the room. Uther followed him in but so did Arthur, whose arms were folded. The prince stared at his father with a hint of defiance in his gaze. Uther nodded his head at his son then turned to Merlin. Arthur closed the door.

"Could I ask what this is about, sire? " Merlin enquired.

Uther paused before he spoke.

"As I understand it, you are meant to protect Arthur with your magic."

"Yes."

"You may be with him most of the time as is to be expected. Putting that aside, I would like to offer you a place in the Royal Council."

At this Arthur's expression became one of amazement and Merlin stared at Uther as if he thought he had gone mad.

"I'm sorry? "

"Don't think anyone would expect you to stay a servant when you're from one of the oldest noble families in the kingdom."

"What would be my position, sire? "

"You would be Court Sorcerer."

Behind his father, Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"I need someone with experience in the case that someone uses magic to try and destroy the kingdom, as Nimueh did. I would ask Lara but I think she would want to spend more time with Gaius after hiding for the last twenty years and being unable to keep contact with some of the people she loves," Uther continued.

"I... I..." Merlin stuttered.

"I expect your answer by the end of the day," the king finished and turned away from Merlin and left the room. Arthur made to follow him but Merlin called to him.

"Arthur, can I talk to you for a second? "

The prince looked at him and closed the door.

"What? " he asked, sounding confused.

Merlin looked him straight in the eye and spoke.

"When Lara was trying to slow the poison in the wound that the Drows gave me, you ordered me not to die and then you said something."

Arthur nodded. He had been expecting this. It was in his opinion that people had a habit of remembering embarrassing things that other had said, not that what Arthur thought that what he had said was embarrassing.

"Did you say 'you're my best friend and I'm not going to let you die'? " Merlin asked.

Arthur didn't feel that he could speak. Now he was feeling slightly embarrassed, so he just admitted to what he had done with a curt nod. He was half-expecting Merlin to laugh at him but instead the warlock's mouth broke into a wide smile.

"The funny thing is though... you're my best friend."

At this, Arthur raised his eyebrows.

"Even after I made you polish my armour and do all of my washing? "

"Apart from that and you constantly being a prat, yeah you are. So live with it. And if I do take your father's offer I won't be your servant anymore."

"Which means I'd either have to employ Gregory again, which I don't think I will, I don't think he liked me very much, or I learn to sort stuff out by myself."

"In that case, I'm definitely taking the offer."

"You know I'm joking. You can't expect _me _to go around cleaning my own laundry."

"I'm still taking it."

"Good because I would have sacked you anyway. I think most people would disagree with bossing your cousin around."

The pair laughed and Arthur walked up to Merlin and gave him a heavy pat on the shoulder.

Just then the door opened and Lara poked her head in. She was beaming.

"Did he do it? " she asked, joyfully.

"Do what? " they heard Morgana's voice from the other room.

"Your brother..." Lara told her. .".. has just been offered a position in the Royal Court as Court Sorcerer."

"And he's going to take it," Arthur called.

"Hey, you could have let me tell them," Merlin murmured.

"Oh come on. It's not as if war's been declared."

"If you'd said that before all of this, you would have just jinxed it."

"Sorry? What do on earth do you mean by 'jinxed'? "

"It's when someone says something and then it happens."

"Good, because for a minute I thought it meant I would have brought another curse down on us."

At this Merlin rolled his eyes. They then exited the room to see the gleeful faces of their family.

Morgana was sitting at the table in her bedroom, mulling things over in her head.

She, Gwen and Arthur had accompanied Merlin when he had gone to tell Uther that he accepted. Once they had entered the hall, they had found a number of knights and nobles standing around and when they had spotted the group, they had become silent and had turned to stare. It had appeared that everybody now knew about Merlin's magic and possibly the fact that he was Morgana's brother and Arthur's cousin. They may have also known that Morgana was a witch herself. However, their attitudes had changed once Merlin had told Uther that his answer. They had immediately started to clap and a couple of young knights had even made a whooping noise in unison. Morgana smiled as she remembered how embarrassed her brother had looked.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in," she called, swivelling in her seat to face the entrance.

The door swung open and Arthur came in, looking slightly sheepish for some reason.

"Where's Gwen? " he asked, gazing around the room.

"She's with Merlin," Morgana replied. "Is something wrong? "

"I'm sorry... it's just I think we need to talk."

Morgana stood as Arthur closed the door behind him.

"About? " she asked.

"It's just... our mothers were sisters."

"And? "

"Well, I'd understand if you think it's weird for me to be feeling the way I do about my cousin..."

Morgana stared at him. This was the first time she could remember Arthur sounding so sincere in a long time but she still couldn't believe he was saying.

"Do you really think that I care that we're cousins. I bet a few couples are too. I can't control the way I feel about you and I don't want the fact that we're related to stand in the way," Morgana said, rather indignantly.

"You really don't think that's awkward? " Arthur said, sounding happier.

"Arthur you are as much as a prat as Merlin says you are. I love you and I'm not afraid to admit it. If you feel the same about me then you shouldn't care either."

"I don't care. I just care about what you think about it."

"Well does this answer your worries once and for all? " Morgana finished, shrilly. She rushed at him and before Arthur could comprehend what she was doing, Morgana was kissing him and he was kissing her back. Time seemed to melt away for what were a few moments but what felt like eternity.

But their passion ground to a halt as the door burst open and Merlin came in. Looking away from Morgana, an annoyed Arthur spoke to him.

"Merlin, are you never going to learn to knock? "

"Sorry if I'm interrupting," the warlock said, looking gleefully from his cousin to his sister. "It's just that Igraine, Æbald and Tristan want to talk to everyone. It's time."

"What do you mean 'it's time'? " Arthur asked.

"They're going."

Silence filled the room.

"What? " Arthur said.

"You can't expect them to stay in that mirror for the rest of eternity. They've got an afterlife to live," Merlin replied.

Arthur didn't say anything else but just stalked out of the room.

Merlin and Morgana looked at each other. It was the only moment they had spent together alone since they had discovered that they were brother and sister. Merlin made to hug her but Morgana beat him to it.

"Are you alright sis? " Merlin asked after a few seconds. Morgana laughed and let go.

They caught up with Arthur outside the door to Gaius' chambers and all three of them entered to find Gaius, Lara, Gwen, Lybra, Eleanor and Uther standing around the room. The occupants in the mirror either had their hands folded or behind their back.

"Is it true you're leaving? " Morgana asked, walking forwards.

Æbald gave his niece a cheeky grin.

"Do you really think I'd be able to stay in this mirror with these two until you lot are all six feet under? No offence but I think we'd kill each other," he joked.

"Which would be hard, considering that we're already dead," Igraine added.

"I don't know, Ig. I might be able to send Æbald further back into the afterlife, heaven, whatever," Tristan said.

"Funny, Tris. How about I challenge you to a duel that would last forever," Æbald muttered.

"Oh come on boys, I don't think we can prolong this any longer," Igraine said, giving her brothers disapproving looks.

After they had murmured apologies, Igraine turned to Lybra.

"Look after them Lybra. Magic may not be banned anymore but some may want to take vengeance for what happened during the Great Purge."

The small dragon nodded as the queen turned to Merlin, Arthur, Gwen and Morgana. She was about to speak when Tristan cut across what she was about to say.

"Your grandfather would be proud of you lot. And I know your father is proud of you too Gwen."

Gwen put a hand over her mouth as her eyes widened. Merlin hugged her from behind.

"Thank you," Gwen said.

"I've got a message for Merlin from Tom as well," Tristan continued. "He says look after her because she's one in a million."

"I already know that." Merlin smiled as Gwen pecked him on the cheek.

"And I want to give advice to you, Arthur," Igraine said, smiling. "But I mean look after Morgana."

"Any more tips on the subject of love? " Lara intoned.

"And we're proud of what you lot have done to. You should hear Ig sometimes. She won't shut up," Æbald said. "And I'm being serious."

He then turned to Lara and Gaius.

"I said when I found out Lara was pregnant I'd knock your block off, Gaius, but I'm not going to. Just make sure you look after her, though I know you're getting on a bit."

"We wouldn't be here doing this if he hadn't gotten me pregnant so remember that," Lara scolded playfully. Æbald gave her a sad look.

"Mother says hello," he said.

Lara stiffened and a single tear ran down her cheek.

"And so do Father and Aunt Naevia."

"You could have told us this earlier," Lara choked.

"I don't think I'd be able to handle seeing you get all upset, Lara, when I can't be there for you in body."

Tristan then chose to speak again.

"I'm sorry I went and got myself killed."

"I'm sorry I listened to father and didn't let you know we were alright," Lara said.

"Don't say that. Father was usually right and I think in this case he was because you still have a family." His eyes roved from Uther, over everybody, to Eleanor.

"And finally," Æbald said, looking Uther straight in the eye. "I'm warning you now, Uther, if you ever try to have Merlin, Lara or Morgana executed for sorcery, I'll be your personal poltergeist for the rest of your life and after that."

"Æbald," Igraine said, scornfully.

"I'm just saying. Jeez Ig, there's no need to go all moody on me just because I'm being a bit protective."

Igraine ignored him and looked at her husband.

"Thank you." She smiled at him.

"For what? " Uther asked.

"For listening and not destroying our family," Igraine replied.

Uther nodded, looking at his wife in a way that no one else in the room had seen before.

Igraine then turned to her brothers.

"Ready then? " Tristan asked her.

"As I'll ever be," she replied, gazing sadly at the family that was about to lose her again. Arthur was staring at his mother with a wounded expression.

"I love you, my son," Igraine said, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. Arthur smiled at her. No words were needed to convey what he wanted to tell her.

"Come on," Æbald muttered, taking hold of his older sister's hand.

With that, the three turned and began to walk away, back into the depths of the mirror, their figures gradually blurring out. But before they disappeared, everybody squinted at the mirror. To all of them, it looked as if a figure with braided hair had joined the others as they left.

Lybra swooped out of the air, landing in front of Merlin.

"Hold it there," she said. "What's going on? "

"You know perfectly well," Merlin replied.

"Come off it, that's a lame excuse to be wandering about the edge of the forest every single day."

"Well if you were in my position, you'd want some air."

"But you love your new job."

"Oh yes, walking around with Arthur _and _occasionally Uther for almost the entire day is a delight. I've barely seen Gwen in the last week because Arthur's been trying to improve my fighting skills."

"But you saw her plenty last week, you love sick fool. Why do you complain? It's not as if you're forever washing Arthur's socks, smelly or not, and you can't use magic."

"Alright it's not that bad. But I'd think you wouldn't want to get fat, the rate you've grown in the last two months. I honestly haven't got a clue on how you grew that big the night after Igraine, Tristan and Æbald left and I swear you've had a few more growth spurts since then."

It was true. By now the top of Lybra's head was as high as Merlin's elbow.

"Oh please," Lybra snorted. "I exercise for most of the day whilst you're with either Gaius, your mother and Morgana, Arthur, Gwen or Uther." She then spotted something that she had failed to notice for the last few weeks.

"You feel incomplete? But you've got everybody here- parents; a sister; a cousin and best-friend; a woman who loves you; and me."

"I can't help it. It's just this feeling that not everything is in place yet," Merlin replied, continuing to walk.

"Excuse me," someone called from behind them.

Spinning around, Merlin and Lybra stared at a young woman who had just come out of the forest. Her ginger hair fell in curls to her waist and her pale yellow cloak stood out against her sea-green dress and she was astride a cherry-brown horse. She spurred her horse and rode up to the pair.

"Is that a dragon? " she asked, gazing with fascination at Lybra.

"Yes," Merlin replied, hesitantly.

The woman continued to look at Lybra before coming to herself.

"I'm sorry, it's just I've never seen a dragon before but my father told me stories about one that lived with his cousins."

"And where is your father? " Merlin asked, failing to notice that Lybra was staring at the young woman as if she understood something.

"He's just coming. I just rode ahead," the woman replied. "My name's Ælfreda by the way, Ælfreda Gneaus."

Merlin looked at her in shock.

"Ælfreda? But that's the name of..." He looked at Lybra, reading her thoughts.

"Come on Merlin, you didn't realise who she is when she said a dragon lived with her father's cousins? "

"But that means you're Rufus' daughter," Merlin said to Ælfreda.

"How on earth did you know that? " the woman asked him.

"Rufus' cousin, Lara, is his mother," Lybra told her. "I'm going to find everyone else, they need to see this." She leapt into the air and flew back to Camelot, leaving Merlin and Ælfreda to stare at each other.

"Ælfreda? Ælfreda, are you there? " A man's voice came from the tree where Ælfreda had first appeared.

The woman looked away from Merlin.

"I'm here, father," she called. "I think we're at Camelot."

A man came out of the trees on a black horse. His cloak was the same as his daughter's but the jacket underneath his it was made of a pale brown leather, kind of like what Arthur wore, and his clothes were a magenta colour. His short hair had a slightly matted look and was deep grey, with some dark red streaks in random places. To Merlin he looked barely any older than Uther.

"Who's this? " the man asked, nodding at Merlin. Ælfreda grimaced and looked at the warlock.

"My name's Merlin," he told both of them.

"He was with a dragon," Ælfreda told her father. "Didn't you always say that there was a dragon trapped underneath Camelot? "

"He's dead," Merlin said, causing the pair of them to goggle at him. "He escaped and went to the Hollow Nest. Uther went after him and killed him."

"But then how is there another dragon? " the man asked him, incredulously.

"There was one final egg at the Nest and she hatched for me."

"But then..." the man said, leaning back in his saddle as he realised what Merlin meant. .".. that means that you're the Dragon Keeper."

Merlin nodded.

"I'm sorry, allow me to introduce myself," the man said, formally. "My name is-"

"Rufus. I know," Merlin interrupted. "My mother is your cousin."

Rufus looked at him with a disbelieving stare but he looked up as someone let out a shriek.

"Rufus? "

Turning around, Merlin saw Lara, Gaius, Arthur, Morgana and Gwen walking towards them, Lybra floating above them.

"San di Dio! Lara, is that you? "

The man dismounted from his horse and stared at his cousin as she embraced him.

"What? Don't tell me you think I'm a ghost? "

"But they told me you were dead."

"That's what everybody thought. If I was dead then how come I had two children? "

"What? "

Rufus looked at Merlin then back at Lara.

"Is he yours? "

"Yes and so is Morgana." Lara smiled at her daughter.

He looked at Morgana and did a double-take.

"My God, she looks like my old mother."

"Yes she does, doesn't she," Lara said, her smile widening.

"And this one..."

Rufus scrutinized Merlin for a second before his eyes widened and his head comically turned back and forth as he looked from the warlock to the physician.

"No!" he laughed. "You and Gaius... you didn't, did you? "

Lara laughed to and looked at Ælfreda.

"Who's this? " she asked. Rufus however was still in the previous subject of the conversation.

"I don't get it... when... I mean... how..."

"Rufus," Lara said, impatiently.

"OK. Alright. Sorry. It's just hard to comprehend that you and Gaius-"

"Rufus, is this a relative of your dad's? "

"No, good grief no." Rufus then asked his daughter something in Italian and she dismounted from her horse after giving him a short reply in kind.

"This is my daughter. Penelope and I named her after your mother, Lara."

Behind them, Merlin had joined Arthur, Morgana, Gwen and Lybra and they were muttering to each other.

"Who was Lara's mother? " Gwen asked, in an undertone.

"She was called Ælfreda and she died giving birth to Lara and Æbald. Lara looks exactly like her apart from her hair-style," Arthur explained.

"Blimey, do you reckon her dad's hair was that ginger when he was younger? " Lybra asked, studying the young woman standing next to Rufus.

"Lybra," Merlin scolded, swatting at her.

"Who are those two? " Ælfreda asked. Unnoticed by the five, introductions had been made by the others.

"That isn't Ig's son, is it? " Rufus guffawed. "Good grief. What is it these days with people looking like their mothers? "

"And this is Gwen," Gaius said.

"Nice to meet you," Ælfreda said, smiling at Gwen. Looking between the two, Merlin could tell that both Gwen and Ælfreda were going to get on very well.

Rufus turned to Gaius.

"How are you, Gaius? " he asked. "You still have your job as physician then? "

"If I didn't, what do you think I would have been doing for the last twenty years or so? " Gaius laughed quietly.

Lara's cousin looked at Camelot.

"I haven't been here since Ig's funeral," he said sadly. "And there's so much I've missed."

"You don't know half of it," Arthur muttered.

"Uther will be surprised to see you, I can tell you now," Gaius said.

"Truth be told, I actually came to see him," Rufus confessed. "We heard about him dropping the laws on using magic and I was particularly interested to know what had happened. As far as I can remember, Uther is as stubborn as he ever was and I wanted to know what changed his mind."

"But instead you were met by us," Merlin said, snorting with amusement.

"Do you want to see Uther now? " Lara asked her cousin.

"Why not," he replied. "I've been dying to give him a lecture on what happened with Uncle Leo."

"But before you do, you may want to know some details."

Lara and Gaius then began to walk back up to the castle with Rufus, who was leading his horse, recounting what had been going on at Camelot. Ælfreda walked up to the group of young adults, looking slightly shy.

"I think know would be a good time to say 'so you're my cousins'," Merlin said, braking the tense silence.

"I think it's more like second cousins," Arthur told him.

"You don't have to be so pedantic," Merlin shot at him.

"Get your facts right in the first place," Arthur retorted, shoving him playfully by the shoulder, smiling all the while.

Ælfreda leant towards Morgana and Gwen.

"Are they usually like this? " she asked.

"You'd need to see it when they're really into it with each other. It can be either annoying or funny to watch," Morgana replied.

"Mostly annoying? "

"Pretty much," Gwen said.

"Are you two coming? " Morgana asked Merlin and Arthur, as she, Ælfreda and Gwen turned towards Camelot, Ælfreda holding onto her horse's reins.

Arthur held up his hands and strode next to Morgana. He looked back at Merlin.

"Are you coming? "

"In a minute, I just want to talk to Lybra," Merlin said.

Arthur gazed at him, confused, but turned around and began to walk with the women the way the adults had gone.

"Let me guess, that feeling you have of being incomplete's gone, hasn't it? " Lybra asked her master.

"You read my mind," Merlin laughed, knowing perfectly well that she had.

"The whole family is here, you might as well throw a reunion party," Lybra joked.

"I don't think that's the best idea. I can tell that a lot of people are still getting over losing people they loved," Merlin said, sounding suddenly serious.

"True," the dragon muttered. A silence passed between the two.

"You know I love you, idiot," Lybra said, attempting to keep a straight face.

"Oh great! You been spending time with Arthur, haven't you, and he's most likely been telling you some of his favourite insults."

"No, I just decided to read his thoughts and see what his point of view had been on some of the things you'd done, including that incident with the rat stew. And I'm still waiting for a reply to what I just said."

"I love you too, Lybra," Merlin replied.

The dragon snorted a stream of smoke out of her nostrils and then spread her wings, ascending into the air. Merlin turned and broke into a run, catching up with his friends and family, Lybra hot on his heels. When he reached them, Arthur's laughter could be heard as he nearly fell over. Giving the prince a glare, Merlin took Gwen's hand. The six walked, or flew, back towards Camelot, the glorious sunset lighting the end of part of their lives, but also the beginning of the next chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

Epilogue- Six years later

Merlin paced the length of the room, waiting for the news. Arthur watched him, fully understanding what his cousin was going through; although he was sure that Merlin was worrying a bit too much.

"I think you may want to calm down Merlin, you look as if you're about to mentally explode."

The warlock shot him a pained look and continued to pace.

"This is what you were doing when Amir was born. For me and Gwen it's just a bit worse; Mother says it's twins and I know for a fact she's not wrong. Morgana saw it to."

"Well Lara's mother survived having twins twice and so have many other mothers. You don't need to worry, if anyone can survive something like giving birth, it's Gwen."

Merlin raised his eyebrows at Arthur's reassuring tone. The prince turned to the bed where a boy of about two years was lying fast asleep. Like his father, he had blonde hair. Arthur carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, watching his son sleep.

"Where's Lybra? " Arthur asked, casually, trying to keep conversation as the minutes crawled by.

"She's circling above the castle," Merlin replied, bluntly, still walking back and forth.

A small crying noise suddenly sounded from the other room. Merlin stopped in his tracks and looked at Arthur, his face fearful. Minutes later another cry joined the other.

"It looks like Lara and Morgana were right after all," Arthur said.

Merlin however had sprinted out of the room and skidded around the door.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted. He wished he hadn't as Amir stirred and opened his pale blue eyes. "Sorry Amir." As the boy blinked his eyes blearily, Arthur picked him up and went after Merlin.

He found the warlock frozen in the doorway to the room next door. Looking past the stiff form of his friend, he saw Lara and Gaius standing away from the bed, both smiling widely. Morgana was next to Gwen, passing her two bundles wrapped in blankets. The crying noise was coming from both of the bundles but it soon stopped.

Gaius smiled at his son.

Arthur nudged Merlin with the arm that wasn't carrying Amir, before walking to Morgana, and Merlin stumbled into the room. When he reached the bed, Gwen shuffled closer to him and held the bundles in a position so that he could look. Peering at the blankets Merlin's gaze was met by two pairs of eyes, both a deep brown like Gwen's. Studying the children, the warlock noted that both of them had pasty skin, like he did, and they already had hair, one's slightly darker than the other.

Gwen was looking at Merlin's face, smiling at his look of shock and joy. When he gave her a look she shuffled to the side to allow him room to sit on the edge of the bed, passing the bundles to him.

When the babies were in his arms, Merlin rocked them from side to side, smiling at his children. But his smile turned to a grimace when they both started to cry again and he handed them back to Gwen, who immediately succeeded in hushing them. Everybody was laughing. Merlin's cheeks were a flushed red colour.

"Were Morgana and Mother right about the other thing? " he asked his wife.

"What the one girl, one boy thing? " Arthur asked, trying to contain his laughter whilst setting Amir down and allowing him to waddle next to Morgana.

"Yes they were," Gwen told Merlin.

"Have you thought about names? " Lara asked.

Merlin and Gwen looked at each other.

"Not really," Merlin said.

"Oh joy, this could be fun to see what they come up with," Arthur muttered.

"Arthur!" Morgana scolded, swiping at him with one hand.

Merlin turned to Gwen again.

"How about you name one and I name the other," he suggested. Gwen nodded, still smiling.

"Ok..." she looked at one of her children. "How about Leo after your grandfather? "

Merlin smiled at her and glanced at Lara and Gaius. The sorceress was beaming and the physician was watching her with a smile, and then hugged her.

"That's perfect," Merlin said.

The warlock then began to think of a name for his and Gwen's daughter.

"_Might I make a suggestion? _" Lybra said, mentally.

"_For crying out loud! When the universe was created, didn't someone think to come up with some mental door, which everybody has to knock before they barge into someone's head? _"

"_Alright then, the next time I need to speak to you like this, I'll try and knock but I bet you I'd give you one hell of a headache_."

"_OK, sorry. You were saying? _"

"_Well, Gwen named your son after a member of _your _side of the family, so why don't you name your daughter after a member of _her _side_."

"_But I don't know any female names from her family_."

"_Don't you? Remember what Eleanor told you several years ago_."

It clicked. Merlin felt as if the name was perfect.

"_What do you think about it? _"

"_I think it would suit and that Gwen would be touched. But prepare for some waterworks. Apparently human woman's emotions can be a bit unstable due to hormones and the fact that they've had a baby, or two in your case_."

"_Thanks Lybra_."

"_No problem. Just make sure you introduce me to the new little ones later on, though they might start crying. I'm not exactly small anymore am I_? "

"_I love you_."

"_Same here. Now go and tell everyone what you think she should be called_."

Lybra retreated from Merlin's mind but the warlock could still feel her watching through his eyes.

"What about Melissa? " he asked, out loud.

Gwen smiled again, as tears appeared in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh well done, Merlin," Arthur said. "You made her cry."

"Oh shut up Arthur," Morgana and Merlin hissed simultaneously.

"Not in front of young ears," Arthur joked, briefly placing his hands over Amir's ears.

"It'll be your turn to name another one in a few months," Merlin said, looking at Morgana's pregnant belly whilst gently hugging Gwen.

"It's a girl, so there are only so many options in the world," Morgana replied.

"Like what? " Arthur asked.

"I'll tell you when she's here," Morgana teased, turning back to Merlin and Gwen.

"Are you alright? " Merlin asked Gwen.

"I think Melissa's perfect," she whispered. "Do you want to have another go? "

"I'll need the practice." Merlin lifted Leo and Melissa out of Gwen's arms and cradled them in his arms again. To his delight, neither of them began to cry.

Morgana and Lara's eyes both suddenly flashed gold and there's faces lit up with astonishment and excitement.

"Brace yourselves," Lara said. The four young adults and Gaius stared at her.

The next second, two different things happened at the same time. A box slid off its own accord onto the floor, when it had been nowhere near the edge, and the window by the bed flew open. Merlin stared at his children just in time to see their eyes flash gold.

"No," Arthur muttered, staring at the two children in his cousin's arms. "I'm not being stupid when I say that was them, am I? "

"It wasn't about to stop," Gaius explained. "Magic has been passed down the generations on Lara's mother's side of the family."

"I don't see Amir moving things without touching them," Arthur said, confused.

"Mostly, the men don't inherit the magical powers," Lara told him. "I think that since Merlin, it's both genders in this family in the family will have magic."

Someone suddenly knocked at the door and when it opened, Ælfreda was standing there.

"Can I come in? " she asked.

"Of course you can. You don't need to ask," Gwen said, smiling at her.

Ælfreda walked in and leant slightly over Merlin's shoulder to stare at the twins.

"Oh, they're adorable," she sighed. "Have you thought of names yet? "

"Yep, Leo and Melissa," Merlin replied. "Where's your father? "

"He's trying to convince Uther to come and have a look. You should have been with him for the last few hours; he's been as excited as anything. Bedivere looked as if he wanted to give him a good kick."

Merlin and the others laughed.

Arthur thought that it was nice that Bedivere was included in the family. When Bedivere had first met Ælfreda, he had immediately liked her and they had ended up together. Rufus had been ecstatic when he had found out and his delight had increased when Ælfreda had found out that she too was expecting a baby. Arthur remembered when he and Merlin had watched him sing something jolly in Italian for what may have been an hour.

"Uther doesn't need to come," Gwen said, flushing slightly.

"You know what my father's like, he'll keep going on about it for the whole world to hear until they all come looking," Ælfreda joked.

"He could go on about something like this until the cows came home," Merlin murmured, to which they all laughed.

Minutes later, Uther and Rufus came into the room. Uther stayed near the edge of the room but congratulated Merlin and Gwen nonetheless. Rufus, meanwhile, produced something from his pocket.

"Rufus? " Lara gasped.

"That isn't what I think it is, is it? " Gaius asked, staring at the object in Rufus' hand.

A small brooch was sitting in the palm of the man's hand, sparkling in the sunlight coming through the open window. It appeared to be made from gold and had rubies embedded into it.

"That's not mother's brooch, is it? " Lara asked.

"The very same, I had it transported here when Morgana told me that Gwen and Merlin were expecting a girl as well as a boy."

"Could someone please explain? " Morgana asked.

"Father gave Aunt Naevia your grandmother's brooch when we last went to Italia. It's meant to be past down from mother to daughter but not Nimueh, Igraine or I could bring ourselves to keep it."

"And I thought it was time it was given to its next owner," Rufus concluded handing the brooch to Gwen. "Give it to Melissa when she's older. We wouldn't want her to hurt herself with the pin."

"Thank you," Gwen whispered, in awe.

Just then Leo and Melissa began to cry again. Merlin tried to quieten them but failed. Lara then walked up to him and began to sing her lullaby. The two babies fell asleep quiet quickly.

"I guess this is the next great adventure," Arthur said.

"What would that be? " Morgana asked.

"Parenthood," Arthur and Merlin said in unison.

Everybody laughed; even Uther allowed himself a smirk. Lara then hugged Gaius; Arthur lifted Amir off the floor and hugged him and Morgana; Ælfreda hugged her father, who then went to shake Uther's hand and try to drag him into the family huddle. Gwen took the twins out of Merlin's arms allowing him to hug her.

Merlin felt a wave of peace flow through him as he watched his family. He felt safe. He was home.

**Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed, especially those who've done each chapter. Like I said at the start, this is my friend's story and not mine, but we both really appreciate all the feedback. Hope you've enjoyed it!**


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